BLOG: How the times May change!

7/5/2014

Chris Senior nods home the winner three years ago today [PIC CREDIT: Dan Westwell]

Junior Daniel’s 36th minute goal not only relegated Bristol Rovers on Saturday but drew a close to the Stags first season back in the football league. Today, as players leave their futures in the hands of their agents and jet off to somewhere sunny, memories draw me back to two games of heartbreak as I wonder, how the times have changed in such a short time.

Three years ago today, Mansfield was a ghost town as we all flocked to Wembley Stadium to see Duncan Russell’s depleted Stags attempt to spread some joy on a miserable year or so of conference and financial woe as they took on Darlington for the FA Trophy.

Reaching Wembley was an achievement itself for Russell’s men who started the road to Wembley by thumping Worksop Town 5-0 at The New Manor Ground, Ilkeston, amidst an off the pitch row which saw Stags, recently taken off by John Radford, locked out of Field Mill by owner an controversial ex-chairman Keith Haslam.

Stags were written off pretty much until after the first leg off the semi-final, Danny Mitchley had scored to give the underdogs an unexpected advantage over favourites Luton, but still, there was a second leg standing between supporters and a dream trip to Wembley. The second leg as we, hopefully haven’t forgotten, was special but went to the wire, a 120th minute Louis Briscoe penalty rebound saw the dream become reality.

May 7thwas the date for the diary, exactly three years ago today – three years on from what was, in honesty, one of the worst games of football in history and Stags are now a football league club again with a good manager, committed board and decent squad. Standing at Wembley with tears flooding down our faces following Chris Seniors late winner for Darlington that’s something we couldn’t begin to imagine.

Alright, this season that has just reached its conclusion hasn’t been the best and for a while, it looked like a return to the conference was on the cards. However Paul Cox and the players turned it around and secured safety, giving the opportunity to go again next time around. One of the first things Cox said upon his arrival was “Success is built on strong foundations” – I believe you can take that in a number of ways, foundations doesn’t have to mean an experienced squad made up of medal winners, it can simply mean looking at what was and learning from what went wrong.

Ross Dyer heads Stags ahead in the play-off first leg, prior to the second leg one year on from Wembley [PIC CREDIT: James Williamson]

Wembley was just a taste of things to come for us supporters both in terms of heartbreak and in success, exactly a year later Cox’s men were full of energy and on the cusp of a Wembley return and a potential Football League return. This time the One Call Stadium was the setting for a play-off semi-final second leg against York City, the scores level following the first leg where Ross Dyer had scored a thumping header and Exodus Geohaghon an unfortunate own goal, Mansfield though had one chink in the armoury as 30 goal striker Matt Green had been dismissed in the first leg for two bookable offences.

A year on from the Wembley tears, heartbreak was to come back again as Matty Blair scored deep into the second half of extra-time to send York on their way to Wembley and ultimately promotion. Images of Adam Murray inconsolable on the pitch as City celebrated in the distance still remain and were perhaps the catalyst to the following seasons title win where the May 7th curse was replaced by two magical dates in April as Matt Green scored late at Hereford and then netted from the spot against Wrexham to deliver the goods of promotion to the Football League.

They say remember the victories as they will always out way the defeats, I don’t think that’s always true – May 7th 2011 and May 7th 2012 should always be remembered as the spark that started the fire, with that below you can take a look back at some of the moments from both May 7th heartaches, hopefully they’ll be more good times to come in the future!

Wembley 2011 - Audio

Wembley Review & Match Report

The Wembley 15 – Where are they now?

So depleted were the Stags at the time of the Wembley that they could only name four out of five substitutes, but whatever happened to the Wembley 15? After some intensive research, mainly a scan of a search engine, we aimed to find out…

Alan Marriott (Goalkeeper)

Super-Maz is one of three survivors of the Wembley 15, at the time of writing anyway. The much loved glovesman featured little on the road to Wembley due to injury but returned against the odds to feature in the final, being chosen over Neil Collett and David Grof who was unable to play due to the expiry of his loan. Former Lincoln man Marriott stuck with Stags and featured heavily in the play-off finish (2011-12), the title win (2012-13) and our recent mid-table league finish (2013-14), missing only a handful of games along the way.

Gary Silk (Right Back)

Former Notts County man Silk made his finial Stags appearance at Wembley despite the best efforts of new Stags boss Paul Cox’s to keep him in the close season. Following his Stags exit the popular right back signed for conference rivals Grimsby Town before moving onto Conference North side Boston United – Silk is currently a free agent.

Tom Naylor (Central Defender)

Arguably the most successful of the Wembley 15, Tom was outstanding both in the semi-final and the final for his home town club. His stay at Mansfield extended for a few months post Wembley but with scouts from Championship clubs on the lookout, it wasn’t long before he moved onto pastures new. The young central defender moved to Derby County under Nigel Clough, joining another Ex-Stags graduate Jake Buxton, and made a handful of appearances before loan spells to develop him at Bradford, Grimsby and most recently, Newport County.

Steve Foster (Central Defender)

Steve began the season as captain but was stripped of the armband following a difference of opinion with David Holdsworth. Working his way back into the side under Duncan Russell, Foster proved a trusty guide to young Naylor having previously won the FA Trophy in 1996-97 with Woking. Foster was let go by Stags in the summer and eventually ended up at Spennymoor Town, where he was last seen in late 2011.

Dan Spence (Left Back)

One of few signings by Duncan Russell, Spence could play both right back at left back and featured a handful of times for Stags in the second half of the 2010-11 campaign. Another let go following Wembley, Spence moved onto Hayes & Yeading United and has been their ever since.

Louis Briscoe (Right Midfield)

The second of the three survivors from Wembley, again at the time of writing, without Louis, Wembley would never have happened. Sadly having not featured much this past season (2013-14) he’ll perhaps be moving on sooner rather than later, which is rather unfair but in terms of Wembley 2011, Louis will always be a cult hero.

Tyrone Thompson (Central Midfield)

A YouTube sensation for his hideous own goal at Hayes and Yeading earlier in the season, Tyrone came with all the pedigree but lacked the skill! The last I heard of Thompson, he was demanding a share of the gate receipts at Sheffield FC.

Kyle Nix (Central Midfield)

Talented midfielder Nix was one of the more stronger players of the Wembley campaign but was moved on in the summer, making him another of the Wembley 15 to bow out of their Stags career on the big stage. A short stay at Tamworth followed before heading abroad most recently appearing for Chiangrai United in the hope of boosting his national career.

Adam Smith (Left Midfield)

David Holdsworth made a big fuss about Smith and valued his talents that much, signed him for Lincoln when he was in charge at Sincil Bank following his release from Stags. He wasn’t a bad player, most recently seen at FC Halifax Town helping them on the way to a play-off finish.

Adam Murray (Central Attacking Midfield)

The legend is still going strong, now as captain and assistant manager.

Paul Connor (Striker)

The popular striker stayed following Wembley before Paul Cox granted his request to go part time and sign for Gainsborough Trinity which was a shame. He played his part and, if his name ever comes up in conversation on the terraces, is still held in high regard.

SUBS BENCH:

Neil Collett(Goalkeeper)

He was still in contract under Paul Cox following Wembley but was loaned out before his deal ran its course. A good keeper who had bags of potential ended up back at former club Nuneaton for a good few seasons before being recently released.

Paul Stonehouse (Defender)

Wembley was the last time out for Stonehouse who ended up at Bath City following his Stags release

Ashley Cain (Midfielder)

A short spell at AFC Telford followed after his Stags exit before signing up for a life outside of football whilst maintaining his play-boy life style for the cameras of Take Me Out and currently MTVs Ex on the beach (a programme about lads trying to bag girls but being disrupted by their Ex-partners, not a documentary about Exodus Geohaghon’s holiday)

Danny Mitchley (Striker)

Another to be still in contract following Wembley but one who came with two views, a small minority thought he was OK, especially after the first leg goal against Luton, others including Paul Cox weren’t bothered when he made his exit. Where is he now, sadly, I’ve no idea!