Written by Emma
Ground #27
Field Mill – Mansfield Town FC
Saturday 20th November 2021 – League Two
Mansfield Town 3-1 Scunthorpe United
Attendance: 4,904
Entry: £22
Don’t worry guys, I am back! *Hold the applause*
Mansfield Town FC were founded in 1897 and currently sit in league two, the fourth tier of English football. They have been playing at Field Mill, or The One Call Stadium due to sponsorship, since 1919. The ground has a capacity of 9,186 and is the oldest ground in the world still used by a professional team. In 2010 the club were bought by wealthy local businessman John Radford and since then have risen back from non-league with plans to get as high as the championship.
Today’s game saw them come up against my hometown team, Scunthorpe United, who are struggling to stay up this season and find themselves sitting bottom of league two. The game started with Mansfield on the front foot looking dangerous down the left hand side, after 15 minutes of pressure Scunthorpe finally got up the other end and won a penalty with their first attack of the game. 1-0 TO THE IRON!, Just minutes later they had a glorious chance to make it two but the striker scuffed his shot wide when it looked harder to miss than score.
From then on Mansfield took back control, looking constantly dangerous and on the half hour mark made it 1-1. Former Crewe forward Jordan Bowery thought he had completed the turnaround, but the ball ricocheted back off the post. He made up for it right on half time as he took the game into the break on 2-1.
It was more of the same in the second half and apart from one well struck free kick, which was well saved by the home keeper, Scunthorpe struggled to look a threat at all. Mansfield continued to dominate and on the hour mark put the game beyond doubt with a third. From then on, the hosts took their foot off the gas and The Iron began to have a lot more of the ball but still couldn’t do anything meaningful with it. The game ended up fizzling out as the result was clear for all to see.
This is the first time we have seen Scunthorpe this season but if this game was anything to go by, they really do need to improve if they want any chance at all to stay up. Mansfield were by far the better team and with this being their fifth win of the bounce will be looking up rather than down as the season goes on.
Now to rate our experience at Field Mill:
Location: 8/10
Mansfield is a large market town, gaining a Royal Charter in 1227, that is found 12 miles north of Nottingham. The ground is only a short walk from the train station and has several pubs nearby including The Talbot which we visited before today’s game. We travelled to the game by car and managed to find free parking close by in the cinema car park
Kit: 6/10
The Stags kit is a bright yellow shirt with blue sleeves, blue shorts, and yellow socks. Although not the most exciting kit it is still a smart design. As you can see from the photo the sponsor doesn’t really stand out, so we have marked it down slightly for this.
Facilities: 5/10
As soon as you go through the turnstiles into the away end you are greeted with two service hatches, each serving hot and cold food with a choice of hot, soft, and alcoholic drinks. Like what we experienced at Charlton, the downside was that there was no indoor concourse and therefore if the weather wasn’t dry you would have to queue and eat in the rain.
Look: 6/10
To the right of the away end at Field Mill is a large two tier stand housing the noisier home fans, this is a great stand for the level and wouldn’t look out of place in the championship. The away end and Quarry Lane end opposite are both a single tiered but decent sized all seater stands, with the away end holding up to 1,900 travelling fans. Todays game saw the first use of their new big screen, showing the goal scorers along with a variety of adverts, they also did not fail to show the constant reminder Scunthorpe were in fact losing. A great addition to the ground after their previous big screen which was borrowed from the old Wembley was now well past its best.
The only thing that lets the ground down is the old and rusty Bishop Street stand, it was closed in 2006 due to not passing health and safety. This stand has seen better days and now is used for advertisements along with the odd dead Pidgeon. Due to the stand being so close to the houses behind there is little they can do to upgrade and use once again, which is a shame. The amount of sponsors they have on it probably make them a lot of money so they are making good out of the bad.
Food and Drink: 5/10
The food and drink at Mansfield was your typical football league variety, a few types of pukka pie or sausage rolls. I went for a potato, cheese, and leek (no I am not actually a veggie) where Max opted for a chicken Balti. Mine was nice and one of the best veggie pies I have had but Max’s was very overdone to put it nicely.
We have visited in previous seasons and were impressed with the drinks options, however, on this day there was a few cans of fosters or scrumpy jacks available. Such a shame and very disappointed with the lack of dark fruits! Luckily, in the pub before I did manage to get a dark fruit, so I suppose my day wasn’t completely ruined!
TOTAL SCORE 30/50
Even after watching my hometown lose (AGAIN) it was an enjoyable day at Field Mill. We met Max’s boss Alan before the game, who is a Mansfield fan, so he will be a lot happier with the outcome than we are. It is a great ground and not too far from us in Newark and having been before a few times we will be back next year with Crewe after their inevitable relegation.
If you would like to see where this places Mansfield Town in our Football League leader board click here: THE 92
If you’d like the non-league grounds we have visited click here: NON LEAGUE
Emma’s Ground Guide 