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Archived News from April 2003

STAGSNET`S STATISTICAL PREVIEW
7th April 2003 21:19


Bristol City played at Field Mill for the first time at the end of the 1937-38 season, when they managed their first win in a high-scoring league encounter by the tune of a 5-3 scoreline. Four days later City also won the home fixture 2-1. The first Stags home win (of total six) was a 3-2 the following season on October 10, 1938. After World War II, the teams were highly involved in the promotion race from the old 3rd division in the 1964-65 season. Although Bristol City eventually got promoted by a slightly better goal-average than the Stags then, the Stags took three points off their promotion rivals by winning 3-0 at home and drawing 1-1 away. Twenty-five seasons later, in 1989-90, the Stags took four points (three-points ruling from the start of the 1981-82 season) off City by winning 1-0 at home and drawing 1-1 away only three days before Steve Wilkinsons five-goal haul in the 5-2-drubbing of now Premiership team Birmingham. The Stags biggest win was a 4-0 on Easter Monday, 1964. Three days earlier the Stags recorded their first-ever league win at a Bristol ground by winning 3-2. The biggest defeat was a 0-4 away one on the opening day of the 1983-84 season. Four seasons later, in 1987-88, the teams met at Field Mill on the opening day with the Stags running out 2-0 winners.
But the one most memorable game between the two teams was the Freight Rover Trophy Final at the end of the 1986-87 when the Stags won 5-4 on penalties (the game is featured in the vintage Stags section). And the game at Field Mill earlier this season was memorable for some wrong reasons. The Stags leading 4-2 minutes before FT - and due to too much injury time added on by the ref of that game – Bristol City managed to turn the tables in a game the Stags deserved to win. To prove my point – according to the match report – the board indicated five minutes injury time – and the ref added SEVEN! in which Bristol City equalized and scored the winner. More incredible – NOT! – was the sending-off of Liam Lawrence AFTER the game – a case that just NOW rendered Liam a two-match ban ending with the fixture at Ashton Gate. (This thing should have been sorted months ago). So the writer fully agrees with the comments in the match centre of the game in November.The 4-5 defeat was to prove the last home game for Stuart Watkiss as Stags manager. And the current Stags manager Keith Curle has played for Bristol City as well – played for them in the Freight Rover Final in 1987.

NOTE: I stand for my opinion on certain things surrounding the home game in November. And I am able to base my opinion on checking the BBC match report as well as the stagsnet one. If we go down, it may i.e. be due to the injury-time incidents in November. But we still have a slight chance of staying up.

Played for both sides: Mark Lever, Paul Holland, Lee Peacock, John Quigley, Keith Curle, Keith Welch.

Home games: P 12, W 6, D 2, L 4, GF 26, GA 19
Away games: P 11, W 2, D 2, L 7, GF 11, GA 23

1937-38 3-5 1938-04-23 1-2 1938-04-27 Div 3 (S)
1938-39 3-2 1938-10-29 0-2 1939-03-04 Div 3 (S)
1946-47 1-3 1947-05-17 2-5 1946-10-19 Div 3 (S)
1963-64 4-0 1964-03-30 3-2 1964-03-27 Div 3 (old)
1964-65 3-0 1965-03-20 1-1 1964-11-07 Div 3 (old)
1982-83 1-1 1982-11-13 1-3 1983-03-26 Div 4 (old)
1983-84 0-1 1984-03-27 0-4 1983-08-27 Div 4 (old)
1986-87 2-0 1987-04-11 0-0 1986-11-04 Div 3 (old)
1987-88 2-0 1987-08-15 2-1 1988-02-20 Div 3 (old)
1988-89 2-2 1988-10-29 0-2 1989-03-21 Div 3 (old)
1989-90 1-0 1989-10-21 1-1 1990-03-31 Div 3 (old)
2002-03 4-5 2002-11-23 (at Field Mill) Div 2

Freight Rover Trophy 1987-05-24 5-4 penalties (FT 1-1)Final

FA-CUP 2-3 1999-10-30 (1st round)

Svante Bernhard aka Sweden Stag (pictured below, centre)


 

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