Archived News from February 2004
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STAGSNET`S STATISTICAL PREVIEW
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Our next opponents in the league are Doncaster Rovers, who last season wrote themselves in the history books by becoming the first team being promoted to the league through a playoffs final and did so on golden goal against Dagenham & Redbridge thus ensuring a league return after five Conf seasons after the relegation in 1997-98 – a truly awful season for the Doncaster fans with only four wins and 34 defeats – add to that 113 goals against, a record for the league basement division.
But on their return, Doncaster have excelled themselves by figuring in the auto promotion contention along with the Stags. So the game at Field Mill – as the game at Belle Vue was - should be an interesting crowd-puller considering both teams fighting it out below top spot and the relatively short distance between the towns. At Doncaster, the Stags have had a very good away record during the years, in fact winning nearly half of their previous 25 outings – all after World War II – the first being by the only goal of the game on April 15, 1950 – despite that reverse, Doncaster finished as div 3 (N) Champs. That 1-0 was the first of four consecutive Stags wins at Doncaster – and the Stags had in SEVEN consecutive outings before October 18, 2003 not even conceded a goal at Belle Vue, surely a Stags league record against any team in league fixtures. On the other hand, the game on November 11, 1966 provided the most goals on aggregate between the two clubs as the Stags won 6-4 with two goals apiece from Curry (goal taste too strong for Donny?) and Brace, one each from McKinney and Morris in front of 7188 – this being the second game in a run of six consecutive league wins in the 1966-67 season. The teams have also met on opening days – at Doncaster in 1970-71 and at Field Mill in 1948-49 (a 2-2 attended by 16749) and 1986-87. The 1986-87 one staged the Stags' comeback in the old third division on August 23, 1986 when Kearney and Lowery put the Stags on the winning trail in front of 3969. Ties between the teams have also been the final ones. This happened in 1973-74 and 1980-81, both at Field Mill. At Field Mill, the Stags have – just as at Belle Vue – won twelve of the previous league outings, starting with a 2-0 on November 3, 1934 with goals from Atkinson and Johnson in front of 5638. The 1-2 home defeat on November 15, 1949, stags scorer Oscroft, is the one with the highest attendance, 19446. This defeat was avenged on April 15, 1950, when Reeve – of all players! – hit the only goal of the game. Talk of putting one over his old club!! Attendance at Doncaster then: 19567. On November 16, 1974, Ray Clarke scored a hat-trick in the 5-2 home win. By that time, the Stags were in pole position for the rest of that Division 4 season. And the Stags have scored in all but three previous home league games against Doncaster. The last league home game was played on September 5, 1997, when Iyseden Christie netted for the Stags in a 1-1 draw ensuring Doncaster's first league point in their disastrous campaign. The Doncaster side that day included the Leeds league cup KO man, Simon Ireland and Martin Pemberton, who figured in the Stags 2001-02 promotion side (see below on representing both sides). The clubs have also faced each other in the FA Cup on five occasions with the Stags going through three times and Doncaster twice. And even in the Stags non-league days did the teams face each other prior to Doncaster's election to the League in 1923. The Stags did also face Doncaster's reserve side for a couple of seasons afterwards. But only the first team fixtures are listed below. Doncaster, who along with Notts County were the first team to go straight from the old second division to the old fourth in 1958-59, have had some famous names in the hot seat. Among them are George Raynor, who managed the Swedish national team around the time of the World Cup Finals in Sweden way back in 1958 and played nine league games for the Stags way back in 1932. Other well-known names in the Doncaster hot-seat include Billy Bremner – two spells – Lawrie McMenemy and Dave Mackay. Several players have represented both sides during the years. Among them are some members of the Stags team which disposed of Leeds in the 1994-95 League Cup – John Doolan, Kevin Noteman and the scorer at Leeds, Simon Ireland as well as two players from the 2001-02 promotion one – Martin Pemberton and Les Robinson. Yet a player who came from Doncaster without making their first team went on to be a key member of the Stags championship sides in the 1970's. And the name is Kevin Bird. Played for both sides: George Antonio, Andy Beasley, Kim Book, Graham Brown, Matt Carmichael, Peter Clark (early 1960's, not the one that played three league games in 2002-03), Nicky Clarke, O'Neill Donaldson, John Doolan, Thomas Dutton, Stephen Foster, Warren Hackett, Steve Harper, John Haselden, Ian Helliwell, Stuart Hicks, Simeon Hodson, Simon Ireland, Charles Johnston, Harold Keetley, Harry Lee, Kevin Noteman, Don O'Riordan, Martin Pemberton, Mark Place, Ken Reeve, Les Robinson, Alan Rushby, John Saunders, Jon Schofield, William Taylor, Steve Uzelac. Another player appearing for both sides was Steve Prindiville, who played sixteen games for Doncaster in the 1991-92 season, among then the game at Belle Vue on March 14, 1992 when the Stags won 1-0, scorer Gary Ford. Notable is also that Kevin Noteman (included in the player file) played for Doncaster in both games against the Stags in 1991-92. Noteman was transferred to the Stags from Doncaster shortly after the Belle Vue game and played in the Stags last six 1991-92 league outings. Non-league games: Season Home Date Away Date 1921-22 3-1 1922-04-22 2-3 1922-02-11 Midland Counties League 1922-23 1-0 1922-12-26 0-2 1923-04-28 Midland Counties League Home stats: P 2, W 2, D 0, L 0, GF 4, GA 1 Away stats: P 2, W 0, D 0, L 2, GF 2, GA 5 League games: Home stats: P 25, W 12, D 8, L 5, GF 46, GA 27 Away stats: P 26, W 12, D 6, L 8, GF 37, GA 30 Season Home Date Away Date 1932-33 2-2 1933-03-11 2-2 1932-10-29 Div 3 (N) 1933-34 1-1 1934-03-17 0-1 1933-04-11 Div 3 (N) 1934-35 2-0 1934-11-03 1-2 1935-03-16 Div 3 (N) 1948-49 2-2 1948-08-21 1-1 1948-12-18 Div 3 (N) 1949-50 1-2 1949-10-15 1-0 1950-04-15 Div 3 (N) 1958-59 3-1 1959-02-28 2-0 1958-10-11 Div 3 (old) 1960-61 1-2 1961-04-17 3-2 1961-04-25 Div 4 (old) 1961-62 4-0 1961-09-02 1-0 1962-01-12 Div 4 (old) 1962-63 4-2 1963-04-16 1-1 1963-04-15 Div 4 (old) 1966-67 3-1 1966-10-17 6-4 1966-11-15 Div 3 (old) 1969-70 1-2 1969-10-06 0-2 1969-08-16 Div 3 (old) 1970-71 2-1 1970-10-17 2-1 1970-08-15 Div 3 (old) 1972-73 0-0 1972-12-30 1-0 1972-08-19 Div 4 (old) 1973-74 2-0 1974-04-29 0-0 1974-03-26 Div 4 (old) 1974-75 5-2 1974-11-16 3-4 1975-02-22 Div 4 (old) 1980-81 1-1 1981-05-06 1-2 1980-12-19 Div 4 (old) 1983-84 1-2 1983-09-03 1-3 1984-01-07 Div 4 (old) 1986-87 2-1 1986-08-23 0-1 1987-02-17 Div 3 (old) 1987-88 2-0 1987-09-29 2-0 1988-03-01 Div 3 (old) 1991-92 2-2 1991-11-02 1-0 1992-03-14 Div 4 (old) 1993-94 2-1 1994-03-12 1-0 1993-09-17 Div 3 1994-95 0-1 1994-10-22 2-0 1995-01-10 Div 3 1995-96 0-0 1995-08-29 0-0 1996-03-25 Div 3 1996-97 2-0 1997-01-21 0-0 1996-09-07 Div 3 1997-98 1-1 1997-09-05 3-0 1998-03-02 Div 3 2003-04 (at Belle Vue) 2-4 2003-10-18 Div 3 FA Cup 1949-50 (at Belle Vue) 0-1 1949-12-10 2nd round (attendance 23545!) 1979-80 (at Field Mill) 2-1 1979-12-15 2nd round 1981-82 (at Field Mill) 0-1 1981-11-21 1st round 1983-84 (at Field Mill) 3-0 1983-11-19 1st round 1995-96 (at Field Mill) 4-2 1995-11-11 1st round League Cup 1974-75 (at Belle Vue) 1-2 1974-08-20 1st round 1980-81 (at Belle Vue) 1-1 1980-08-08 1st round, 1st leg 1980-81 (at Field Mill) 2-1 1980-08-11 1st round, 2nd leg (Stags through 3-2 on aggregate) Svante Bernhard aka Sweden Stag (pictured, above right) Note: Several updates compared to the stats sent prior to the away game and my trip to Stagsland are courtesy of the Stags centenary book. Various editions of Rothman's Football Yearbook and the website http://www.soccerbase.com are other sources to the extensions. |
Latest | February 2004