Archived News from December 2004
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STAGSNET`S STATISTICAL PREVIEW
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Mansfield and Shrewsbury played each other very frequently in the sixties and the seventies – as the Shrews were somewhat of an inventory of the old third division. The proof: Between 1959-60 – under Arthur Rowley as player-manager, he completed his unbeatable post-war scoring record of 434 league goals – and 1978-79, they were out of that division only ONCE. But that season was the 1974-75 one, in which the Stags and Shrewsbury were almost neck-to-neck in the division 4 promotion battle throughout that campaign. But at the end, the Stags were clear-cut worthy champions with the Shrews in an equally clear-cut runners-up position. The pointers were the two clashes between the sides either side of the New Year. On December 7, 1974, the first Field Mill five-figure attendance for about three years, 10070, saw the Stags win 3-1 thanks to two goals from Lathan and one from Eccles, and go four points clear of Shrewsbury at the top – and just a month later, on January 11, 1975, the Stags won at Gay Meadow by the only goal of the game by McCaffrey in front of another good crowd, 8913, and definitely pull clear at the top. And that 1-0 at Gay Meadow was the Stags' first-ever win there, clinched in their 12th attempt. The first attempt was in Shrewsbury's inaugural league season, when the teams faced each other home and away in the space of a few days at the very end of 1950-51 – the Stags' best early post-war one. The 1-0 in 1975 was the first of seven consecutive Stags away games at Shrewsbury unbeaten during a space of 25 years. Among them was the Stags' biggest-ever away victory at Gay Meadow – a 3-0 on October 6, 1990, scorers Kent, Christie and Fairclough in front of 2587. And that was only the second time the Stags had managed three goals at Shrewsbury, the first one was already on October 3, 1959, when two goals from Hollett and one from Ripley weren't enough. 8822 watched Arthur Rowley's Shrews hit the Stags for six then.
Good crowds attended both games in 1950-51. On April 28, 1951, the biggest-ever Gay Meadow crowd for a Shrewsbury v Stags league game, 10132, saw Lewis score from the spot to clinch the Stags point. Two days later, the sides clinched again, but at Field Mill, where 7590 saw Fox strike twice, Coole and Reeve once in a 4-0-victory – and that score-line was not to be repeated until September 24, 1999, when 2808 saw Peacock score twice, Sisson and Lormor once. Typically enough, much-travelled Lormor was on loan to Shrewsbury by the time of the teams' latest league clash at Gay Meadow – on February 23, 2002 and scored once in the Stags' 3-0-defeat after a poor display in which Allen Tankard's injury after just 30 minutes turned the game. The fixture at Field Mill in 2001-02 was played on September 14, 2001. A good turn-out of 4759 saw Greenacre clinch the winner with a spectacular over-head kick in injury-time – and not for the first and last time that campaign, the Stags claimed maximum points in the dying stages of the fixtures. And from the 2001-02 teams, only Pilkington and Corden are still around among those who played for the Stags then, while Ryan Lowe, Sam Aiston as sub and Darren Moss still play for the Shrews. Moss, anyway, is out suspended due to the red card after only 14 minutes in Shrews' latest league fixture, an ill-tempered 1-1 draw at fellow come-back boys Chester last Saturday. Also out due to sending-offs for Shrewsbury are O'Connor – also red-carded at Chester – and Walton, serving his last game of a three-match ban after being sent off at Scunthorpe on November 27. When Shrewsbury left the old third division as champions in 1978-79 for a ten-season stint in division 2 – sometimes successful with limited resources – they were unable to beat the Stags. Both sides drew very often in 1978-79 – 19 times apiece – and there was no wonder why both fixtures were drawn. Although both teams fielded strong defences that campaign, they shared four goals at Gay Meadow as well as at Field Mill. When the teams played at Shrewsbury on October 7, 1978, the Shrews headed the table while the Stags were in 17th position. 4338 watched Maguire score twice for Shrewsbury, while goals from Ernie Moss and Kevin Bird dead-locked the sides at 2-2 – and the Stags were the first side to score more than ONCE against the Salop side that season – and also the last as a 2-2 score-line also was the end-product of the Field Mill fixture on May 7, 1979. A good crowd of 6413 saw Russell Allen score once, Bob Curtis from the spot for the Stags while Biggins and Maguire netted for Shrewsbury, who ten days later were crowned as division 3 Champions – and above the more-fancied sides of Watford and Swansea. The sides have also faced each other in the FA Cup on three occasions with the Stags going through on one – the season after the giant-killing one – and Shrewsbury on two. More players than one might expect have turned out for both sides. Tony Lormor is already mentioned. Others include Dave Artell, John Dungworth, Alan Humphreys and the late Arthur Mann. Played for both sides: Dave Artell, Alexander Brown, O'Neill Donaldson, John Dungworth, John Grayson, Bryn Gunn, Jim Hankin, Alan Humphreys, David Linighan, Tony Lormor, Arthur Mann, Harry Middleton, John Moore, Dean Peer, Darren Rowbotham, Arthur Sharp, Steve Slawson, Mark Smith, Jack Stamps, Wayne Thomas, Glyn Thompson, Lee Williams. Home stats: P 23, W 14, D 4, L 5, GF 36, GA 20 Away stats: P 23, W 5, D 7, L 11, GF 28, GA 40 Season Home Date Away Date 1950-51 4-0 1951-04-30 1-1 1951-04-28 Div 3 (N) 1959-60 1-0 1960-02-20 3-6 1959-10-03 Div 3 (old) 1963-64 3-1 1963-10-07 0-2 1963-10-16 Div 3 (old) 1964-65 1-0 1965-04-03 1-1 1964-11-03 Div 3 (old) 1965-66 0-3 1966-03-21 1-2 1966-04-22 Div 3 (old) 1966-67 0-1 1967-03-25 0-1 1966-10-29 Div 3 (old) 1967-68 0-1 1968-03-23 1-2 1967-10-28 Div 3 (old) 1968-69 1-2 1969-05-09 1-1 1968-11-30 Div 3 (old) 1969-70 2-0 1970-01-17 0-0 1969-09-27 Div 3 (old) 1970-71 1-1 1971-04-03 2-5 1970-08-28 Div 3 (old) 1971-72 2-2 1972-03-20 2-4 1972-04-19 Div 3 (old) 1974-75 3-1 1974-12-07 1-0 1975-01-11 Div 4 (old) 1975-76 1-2 1975-08-16 2-1 1976-04-02 Div 3 (old) 1976-77 1-0 1977-04-12 0-0 1976-11-02 Div 3 (old) 1978-79 2-2 1979-05-07 2-2 1978-10-07 Div 3 (old) 1989-90 2-1 1990-03-17 1-0 1989-10-07 Div 3 (old) 1990-91 2-1 1991-03-23 3-0 1990-10-06 Div 3 (old) 1993-94 1-0 1993-08-14 2-2 1993-12-17 Div 3 1997-98 1-1 1998-03-07 2-3 1997-11-01 Div 3 1998-99 1-0 1998-12-11 0-1 1999-05-01 Div 3 1999-2000 4-0 1999-09-24 2-1 1999-10-23 Div 3 2000-01 1-0 2000-10-14 1-2 2001-03-06 Div 3 2001-02 2-1 2001-09-14 0-3 2002-02-23 Div 3 Cup games: 1969-70 2-1 1969-12-06 FA Cup 2nd round at Gay Meadow 1978-79 0-2 1978-11-25 FA Cup 1st round at Field Mill 1992-93 1-3 1992-11-14 FA Cup 1st round at Gay Meadow Svante Bernhard aka Sweden Stag (pictured, above right) |
Latest | December 2004