This is the story of Mansfield Town’s glory years. Parts one and two covered the 1974-75 season when the Stags were Division Four Champions. Now we see how they fared in Division Three.
1975-76
Smith spent the summer considering whether to strengthen the squad for the higher division. He chose to bring in Ian McDonald, a midfield player. McDonald was on Liverpool’s books but hadn’t made it into the first team. They loaned him to Colchester United but again he only made a few appearances, much like Clarke’s career before he became a Stag.
Ian MacKenzie was another player who fitted the Smith mould. The central defender spent six years at Sheffield United but only made 45 appearances. They loaned him out to Southend, but it was Smith who looked to give him his chance.
The season began with entry into the Anglo-Scottish Cup. 16 teams from England and eight from Scotland entered the competition. For the first phase they were kept apart. Mansfield were drawn into a group with West Bromwich Albion, Leicester City and Hull City. Three games in a week saw them draw at West Brom and win both home matches against the other two, thus winning the group. A week later the league season kicked off.
The Stags’ fans spent the whole summer break dreaming of clashes against bigger clubs, who would bring more fans with them. But in reality there were only three clubs who could be considered ‘bigger’ status, Sheffield Wednesday, Crystal Palace and Brighton. Ironically, their first opponents was the very team which had been chasing their tails the whole of the previous season, Shrewsbury.
McDonald crowned his debut with a goal, but they lost their first league game at Field Mill for 27 matches. The run stretched back to 1 April 1974.
Before they had a chance to put things right in the league, they were offered a chance to relive happier times back in April when they took on Scunthorpe in the League Cup. In the same venue they confirmed their Fourth Division title with a 7-0 win, they put four past them this time. McDonald scored a brace as if to reinforce the idea Smith could change things for a player’s career.
This had the desired effect and their first win in the third tier came soon after at Colchester United. After completing their League Cup tie success over Scunthorpe they continued to find things tough in the new division. They lost four matches on the trot in September.
Their form for the first four months of the season was a real contrast. In the league they won three of their first 17 matches. After the Colchester win in their second match they only won one of their next 14, losing nine.
The contrast was their cup form. In the League Cup they put won at Wrexham then found themselves up against First Division Coventry City in round three. Another crowd of over 10,000 packed in to see internationals such as Tommy Hutchison (Scotland), Jimmy Holmes (Rep Ireland) and Larry Lloyd (England).
City’s form had been patchy with them losing as many games as they’d won. They’d just lost three at home but if they were happy to be away from Highfield Road Mansfield made life tough for them straight away. Clarke put the home side in front 70 seconds from the kick-off. The partisan crowd roared their team on with Terry Eccles making it 2-0 before the break. Mansfield held on to pull off a famous victory, into the Fourth Round for the first time in their history.
Their prize was another home tie against First Division opposition. At the beginning of November Wolves arrived at Field Mill. They were struggling near the bottom of Division One, yet still fielded a side containing players of the calibre of Alan Sunderland, Kenny Hibbitt, Willie Carr, John Richards, Steve Daley and Steve Kindon.
Mansfield Town had earned a ‘cup giantkiller’ reputation against the same opponents 47 years earlier when, as a non-league club, they dumped Wolves out of the FA Cup at the Third Round stage. This time round The Stags were rampant from the off. Clarke went close on a couple of occasions, as did Kevin Bird. So it was hardly a surprise when Ian McDonald put the home side in front with eight minutes of the first half still to go.
A crowd of nearly 13,000 expected a backlash from the more illustrious side but it never materialised. Mansfield were very good value for their 1-0 win and the dream continued. Wolves boss, Bill McGarry was very complimentary about the team;
“Mansfield were by far the better side. I don’t understand why they are at the bottom of Division Three. We were lucky it wasn’t 4-0.”
With QPR, West Ham and Liverpool, all whom had lead the league by some stage that season, all out of the competition, along with Manchester United, Mansfield were within a shout of a Wembley appearance. They weren’t the lowest ranked side still in, as Fourth Division Doncaster Rovers were still there. But they were up against the highest ranked team, Manchester City who’d thumped United 4-0 in the last round. The tie was at Maine Road too so wouldn’t be easy at all.
When they arrived in Manchester they weren’t in good form. They’d suffered back-to-back 1-4 defeats in the league to Grimsby and Crystal Palace, leaving them rock bottom of the table. City were packed full of stars too. Joe Royle, Dennis Tueart, Peter Barnes, Asa Hartford, Joe Corrigan, Dave Watson and Willie Donachie.
Royle gave the home side the lead inside 10 minutes. But Mansfield weren’t overawed as Clarke was again on the scoresheet to equalise. Before the break Alan Oakes put the home side back in front. The visitors were always dangerous even into the second half, but 11 minutes after the re-start Sandy Pate had a rare moment of indecision. His backpass gave Tueart an easy chance and he finished it comfortably. But once again Mansfield came back. Pate’s cross was headed in by Bird.
With just four minutes of the game to go there was a sixth goal, but unfortunately for the visitors it was Hartford who got it to complete the win for City. Once again an opposing manager had good things to say about Mansfield. City manager Tony Book said;
“this was our hardest home game of the season.”
Stags’ fans went home disappointed by not completely downheartened. A Quarter-Final appearance in the League Cup was not to be forgotten. But now they had the concentrate on their league form. The City performance seemed to galvanise them as they finally won in the league when Swindon visited.
Dave Smith dipped into the transfer market and pulled out another gem. Kevin Randall had just turned 30 and had recently dropped out of the Notts County side, which was competing in Division Two. He been at Meadow Lane for four years having spent six at Chesterfield. He was a goalscorer. Smith said it was the easiest signing he’d ever made.
It seems remarkable when you consider the sort of money players earn these days, but Randall was on £65pw at County and moved to Mansfield for just £50pw. But he made an immediate impact and it wasn’t long before he attained legendary status at Field Mill.
He scored on his debut to complete a 3-1 win over Swindon. Two days later he was in the team for the FA Cup replay against Wrexham. This was the third attempt to settle this First Round tie. Finally, Mansfield came out on top in a 2-1 win.
But their hopes of further cup success were dashed just five days later when they were beaten at home by Lincoln City. City were top of the Fourth Division and immediate one place down from Mansfield on the league pyramid. But no one likes to lose in the FA Cup one round before the big boys join, but that cleared things further for the league.
By this time the Anglo-Scottish Cup campaign had ended too. They beat Ayr United in the Quarter-Finals over two legs. The Scottish side were managed by Ally McLeod at the time but the Stags won both legs with McDonald scoring in both.
Their reward was a Semi-Final tie against Jack Charlton’s First Division Middlesbrough side. Boro included Graeme Souness and Terry Cooper in their team and won both legs quite comfortably.
The Christmas period wasn’t a good one for the Stags. They lost two of their three matches, scoring just once. They were firmly rooted to the bottom of the table, four points adrift of Swindon and seven points from safety.
A measure of how the first half season could be so disjointed in the way of league rhythm was that up to the end of 1975 Mansfield had already played 38 matches, yet only 20 of those were league games. Now all the cups were out of the way, they could concentrate on trying to prove they belonged at the higher level.
1976
For some teams from the bottom two tiers of the Football League the New Year would involve the FA Cup Third Round, with hopefully a big tie. Last season the Stags enjoyed being amongst it, for the first time in five years. But this season they were back on the sidelines.
They couldn’t focus on that, though. There was a relegation battle to negotiate. Four points adrift at the bottom, they’d won just three league games all season. So it was the ideal start when they beat Port Vale 3-1 with Clarke getting a double.
Randall got the other one, and he was again on target when they went to Chester City a week later and came away with another point. A draw at home to Gillingham extended their unbeaten run to four.
This came to end with back-to-back 0-1 away defeats to two sides in the top six, Cardiff and Brighton.
They ended the month still bottom and with Swindon managing to turn their form around, the gap was still four points but now Southend were the club the Stags were closest to. Swindon had climbed out of the relegation zone and were six points ahead of Mansfield.
February
Hereford would provide the first opponents home and away in the month. The first meeting was at Field Mill where Clarke reached 10 goals in the league for the season in a 2-2 draw. Midweek saw the return fixture where Hereford won by a solitary goal. After the brief enjoyment of a win just into the New Year, Mansfield were now looking back at six without a win. They were running out of games too.
But something changed about now. Years later, Clarke would put this down to Smith using too many new players in the first half of the season. For the rest of the season he concentrated on a settled side and it showed. This had a particular positive effect on Clarke.
Their next four matches were against sides in the bottom half, starting with Halifax who were in the drop-zone with them. This was at The Shay Stadium and their form away from home was becoming a worry. They’d only won once on the road, and that was their very first game back in August.
Clarke put them in front and this was the start of a run of scoring in four consecutive matches. Saxby scored his first of the season and they finally won an away game, winning 2-1.
Clarke got the only goal of the game when Grimsby visited and for the first time all season they had registered back-to-back wins. They were still bottom but now the nearest club to them were just two points better off, and the gap to safety was down to four points.
Clarke again scored in a 1-1 draw at home to Bury. Last season their home form had been an important base for their success. Now they were now five unbeaten at home.
They ended the month with a trip to Preston, who were smack bang in mid-table. Clarke and Matthews scored to give them another vital away win.
So many things were now looking promising for the team. They’d gone the whole month unbeaten (6 games). Clarke now had 18 for the season, 13 in the league. Slowly but surely they were hauling themselves back in with the pack. They were a point behind Halifax who were crucially one of four teams on the same points. Mansfield were a point from safety.
March
This was going to be make-or-break for the Stags. Eight games lay before them. Three against sides in the top six, but also two matches against sides in the bottom five. Six matches were at home.
The first visitors to Field Mill were Brighton. Managed by Alan Mullery they were sitting in second and embroiled in a promotion race which was getting very tight. McDonald put them in front with his 11th of the season. He was now second to Clarke in the scoring stakes. Mansfield held onto win. It was a vital win, against the odds. They were now unbeaten in their last five, winning four of them.
This change in fortunes meant for the first time since the end of September, they were out of the bottom four. Two of the teams below them had games in hand but they weren’t putting together the sort of results Mansfield were.
The Brighton game was the first of three consecutive home games , with Wrexham and Millwall following. Remarkably this was their sixth meeting with Wrexham that season having met them in both cups. The game was goalless with the Millwall match also ending in a draw. Mansfield were now unbeaten in their last seven. These were crucial points they were gathering.
Next up was a trip to Peterborough, who were eighth but only two points off a promotion spot. Mansfield were excellent. One of the performances of the season saw them win comfortably, 3-0. Clarke scored twice and McCaffrey, who’d scored his first of the season the previous week, added the third. Clarke now had 20 for the second season running. Not bad for £8,000.
This was their third successive away win and they were now up to 18th.
By now Clarke was on fire. The swagger which seemed to have deserted him for the first few months of the season, had now returned. When Southend arrived they were on the receiving end of a Clarke hat-trick. Five goals in his last two matches, nine in his last nine.
They were now up to 17th, and more importantly four points above the dropzone. Things really had turned around.
Crystal Palace were the next visitors. They were lying in third, battling with Brighton for a promotion place. Hereford were five points clear of the two at the top so points were important. Palace’s position in the table attracted a crowd just short of 13,000. Mansfield’s form was so good they again avoided defeat. Laverick was on target in a 1-1 draw. Not much use for Palace but Mansfield continued to move up the table.
They’d come through the two toughest challenges they had left in the season, Brighton and Crystal Palace, and only dropped a point.
They were next in action at Swindon. A few months ago this would’ve been a relegation battle as Swindon was second from bottom. But Mansfield were past all that by now and the gap between the two was clear. Laverick was again on the scoresheet, with Clarke getting the second in a 2-0 win.
The month ended with a 1-1 draw at home to Rotherham. It had been as perfect a month as they dared to dream. Eight matches, no defeats. 12 points from a possible 16. They began the month bottom of the table and ended it 15th. They now had a five point cushion from the drop zone. Several clubs below them had games in hand, but the form was such surely they couldn’t find themselves back in trouble?
April
Before they won at Halifax in mid-February they had won just one of their 15 games on the road. Now they’d won their last four. Their next away trip was to Shrewsbury, the team who had pushed them all the way to the title in the Fourth Division the previous season.
They did the double over them that season, but Shrewsbury inflicted Mansfield their first defeat of this season. But that was months ago and things were different now. Shrewsbury had acquitted themselves very well in the Third Division and were up in 7th. Mansfield won 2-1 with Clarke and Hodgson getting the goals. Clarke now had 20 in the league.
Four days later Hodgson’s goal beat Walsall to take their winning run away from home to six. This was another impressive win as Walsall were just two points off a promotion place at the time. Mansfield were now up to 13th. If only they could’ve shown this form earlier in the season.
They won their next three matches too, beating Aldershot (1-0), Chesterfield (2-1) and Sheffield Wednesday (3-0).
The win over Wednesday was in front of the biggest crowd of the season at Field Mill. Not even Coventry or Wolves attracted more. This was their fifth successive win. They were up to 10th.
They were nine points clear of relegation but also nine points off a promotion place. How different things were by then.
Their run of seven successive wins on the road came to an end in their final away game of the season. Clarke scored twice in a 2-2 draw at Port Vale.
When Colchester were the visitors for the final match of the season a 0-0 draw meant they’d gone 19 games unbeaten. The last team to beat them was Hereford United, and they won the title.
They ended the season in 11th place. Their form from mid-February was incredible. They looked doomed back then, but the turnaround gave supporters a feeling if they could maintain that form the following season they might be able to challenge for promotion.
To illustrate the change in fortunes, in mid-February Shrewsbury were 4th on 34pts. Mansfield were rock bottom on 16pts.
Shrewsbury accumulated 13pts from their 18 matches from there. Mansfield amassed 31pts from 19 matches. The two were separated by just one point by the end.
If the season had just been those last 19 matches Mansfield would’ve finished top, four points ahead of Millwall, six ahead of Cardiff with, eventual champions Hereford, a point back in fourth.
Stags’ fans were riding high on the emotion of it all. To such an extent they were utterly shocked at what happened next.
Ray
Clarke requested a transfer.
He’d scored 29 goals in 61 matches in all competitions. 24 in 45 league games. This followed 30 goals in 53 games in all competitions the season before, with 28 coming in the league when he never missed a game.
How on earth would they cope without him, and what had gone wrong to mean we wanted out?
The player claimed he was not happy to spend another season in Division Three. He’d enjoyed his time at the club but would not be satisfied until he could play at a higher level. The first offer came from Division Three champions, Hereford United, but the board rejected it. In July 1976 a superior offer came in from Dutch club, Sparta Rotterdam. Clarke went for a record fee of £90,000. £82,000 profit. There was little doubt his goals contributed massively to their Fourth Division title win, and were a huge factor in the team’s improvement in his second season.
Clarke’s career took him onto Ajax and then Bruges, two of the best sides in Europe at the time. Not bad for a player many thought wouldn’t make it and it wasn’t until Dave Smith got to look at him, and took a gamble, he actually proved them all wrong.
But how would the Stags replace him?
Not only was the matter of replacing Clarke a huge issue, in April manager Dave Smith left the club. The reasons for his departure were never disclosed at the time. Chairman, Arthur Patrick, announced he had been relieved of his duties. Apparently, the whole episode remains a mystery to this day.
He moved to Southend United and managed them for seven years. He experienced two promotions with Southend, plus one with Plymouth and then Torquay.
His record at Field Mill was nothing short of remarkable. He took them to the Fifth Round of the FA Cup and League Cup Quarter-Finals for the first time in their history. They won the Fourth Division title and their run of 19 games unbeaten to the end of the next season, was also something to be admired. He is still considered a true great by Stags’ fans.
Mansfield approached the 1976-77 season with some trepidation.
All photos courtesy of Stags.net
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