Archived News from August 2007
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STAGSNET`S STATISTICAL PREVIEW
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In the last couple of seasons in the League Cup, the Stags have fared very well against opponents from higher divisions. Just ask Stoke, Southampton and Huddersfield! All three kayoed by the Stags in recent seasons. Two seasons ago, Stoke were penalized 3-0 at Field Mill after the sides had been deadlocked after extra time in the first round. The following round, the home tie against Southampton, marked Peter Shirtliff's first game as caretaker-manager. And what a start! A Giles Coke strike midway through the second half meant that Harry Redknapp left Field Mill on the losing side for a second time, this time as manager. Redknapp was in the West Ham side that travelled to Field Mill in the FA Cup fifth round on February 26, 1969. But last season, it was third time lucky for Redknapp. As Portsmouth manager, he saw Pompey go through to a 2-1-scoreline. But the Stags were first to score against Pompey in League and cup competitions last season. The Stags were rewarded Portsmouth home tie by beating Huddersfield away 2-0. But in this season's competition, the Stags were drawn away at Oldham, the League cup finalists in the 1989-90 season, then a side in the second tier, a few seasons later one of the Premier League inaugural members.
But since 1997-98, the Latics have been ever-present in the third tier of the Football League and played the Stags in the 2002-03 season. The Stags trip to Boundary Park on September 14, 2002, was one to be quickly forgotten. A 6-1 rout after one of the Stags' worst performances that season. The home game at Field Mill on March 1, 2003, was one of poor refereeing. Just read through the Stagsnet report of that fixture to understand why. Three red cards, referee rating 0 and a late converted Oldham penalty were things that very well summed up the Stags' most recent season above the basement division. But as early as on August 31, 1935, the opening day of the 1935-36 season,the Stags played Oldham in a league game for the first time. Oldham, just relegated from the old 2nd division, lost to the only goal of the game, scored by Allen in front of 11102 at Field Mill. But the first visit to Boundary Park on December 28, 1935, ended in a 4-1 defeat, Stags scorer Atkinson, and in fact the Stags had to wait till the 14th trip to Oldham to register the first on only two wins in total at Oldham. On November 15, 1961, the Stags won a fourth division game 3-2, Straw scoring twice and Coates one in front of 11307. The two teams were promoted together the following season with Oldham finishing 2nd after having scored in all home games and the Stags finishing 4th scoring in all but three, Oldham netting 65 times including the record 11-0 win against Southport, and the Stags banging 61 goals in. No wonder the games between the teams that season produced 11 goals! On October 20, 1962, Oldham won 3-2 and at that time both teams were on top of the fourth, no wonder the attendance was 23747!. When the Stags met Oldham on March 9, 1963, it was their first league game since December 22, 1962, due to the big freeze. I remember that! The Stags eventually won 4-2 to mount their promotion challenge with the help of three Wagstaff strikes and one from Hall in front of 7762. The biggest Stags win against Oldham so far is a home 4-0 routing on August 31, 1968 when Bob Ledger scored twice against his former club, the other Mansfield goals scored by Dudley Roberts and Jimmy Goodfellow. And only once in 48 league games between the two games has a tie produced no goals, and that was incredibly enough in the 1966-67 season when Oldham hit 51 home goals and the Stags 36 away ones, a figure only exceeded by QPR that season. And after the teams played 1-1 at Field Mill on September 2 the following season, Oldham did not draw again until March 9, 1968, when they played a goalless draw at Bournemouth – a total of 29 league games without a draw! The teams also met when the Stags played one season in the old 2nd division. The home game was lost 0-2 due to two goals from Steve Taylor (who played for the Stags two seasons later) in front of a 7302 crowd and the away game weeks before the end of the 1977-78 was won 1-0 courtesy of a John Miller goal attended by 7224. The teams have never before faced each other in the League Cup, but on four occasions in the FA Cup. On the first of those, the Stags went through to a solitary Cooling goal at Oldham to set up a third round home tie against Stoke! In the middle sixties, Oldham went through twice in three season, one at Oldham and one at Field Mill. The most recent Mansfield v Oldham cup fixtures were played in 1997-98. On November 15, 1997, ex-Latic Steve Whitehall in his only Stags season equalized in the second half at Boundary Park to earn a first round replay, which was lost 0-1. Starred for Oldham in both games then did ex-Stag Scott McNiven, recently released by Morecambe, now playing for Blue Square Premier new boys Farsley Celtic, did so in their opening 1-0 win against Stafford Rangers. Played for both sides: Eric Betts, John Bingham, Alfred Brown, John Dungworth, Ged Keegan, Brian Kilcline, Bob Ledger, Scott McNiven, Neil Moore, Kenneth Murray, Christopher Ogden, Martin Pemberton, John Ryan, Arthur Sharp, Chris Staniforth, Steve Taylor, Stuart Thom, Paul Warne, Steve Whitehall. Home stats: P 24, W 12, D 4, L 8, GF 45, GA 36. Away stats: P 24, W 2, D 9, L 13, GF 23, GA 46. Season Home Date Away Date 1935-36 1-0 1935-08-31 1-4 1935-12-28 Div 3 (N) 1936-37 1-2 1936-11-14 1-1 1937-03-20 Div 3 (N) 1947-48 1-1 1948-01-03 1-1 1947-08-30 Div 3 (N) 1948-49 3-2 1948-09-18 0-4 1949-02-05 Div 3 (N) 1949-50 3-1 1949-12-26 0-1 1949-12-27 Div 3 (N) 1950-51 3-1 1950-12-26 0-2 1950-12-25 Div 3 (N) 1951-52 2-1 1952-02-23 3-5 1952-05-03 Div 3 (N) 1952-53 0-2 1952-12-27 0-1 1952-12-26 Div 3 (N) 1954-55 1-3 1955-01-29 1-1 1955-01-08 Div 3 (N) 1955-56 2-0 1955-09-05 1-1 1955-09-12 Div 3 (N) 1956-57 2-4 1956-09-22 1-1 1957-02-02 Div 3 (N) 1957-58 4-4 1957-11-02 1-1 1958-03-15 Div 3 (N) 1960-61 1-2 1961-04-03 1-3 1961-03-31 Div 4 (old) 1961-62 2-0 1962-03-26 3-2 1961-11-15 Div 4 (old) 1962-63 4-2 1963-03-09 2-3 1962-10-20 Div 4 (old) 1963-64 1-1 1963-11-23 0-1 1964-04-04 Div 3 (old) 1964-65 4-1 1964-08-29 1-2 1964-12-19 Div 3 (old) 1965-66 1-0 1966-02-21 1-1 1966-03-05 Div 3 (old) 1966-67 2-4 1966-09-04 0-0 1966-09-27 Div 3 (old) 1967-68 1-1 1967-09-02 0-1 1967-11-14 Div 3 (old) 1968-69 4-0 1968-09-07 2-2 1969-03-28 Div 3 (old) 1971-72 2-1 1972-02-05 1-2 1972-04-08 Div 3 (old) 1977-78 0-2 1977-11-26 1-0 1978-04-08 Div 2 (old) 2002-03 0-1 2003-03-01 1-6 2002-09-14 Div 2 Cup games: FA Cup: 1947-48 1-0 1947-12-13 2nd round at Boundary Park 1963-64 2-3 1963-11-20 1st round at Boundary Park 1965-66 1-3 1965-11-13 1st round at Field Mill 1997-98 1-1 1997-11-15 1st round at Boundary Park 1997-98 0-1 1997-11-25 1st round replay at Field Mill Vastly updated compared to the 2002-03 previews due to having more sources to pick from. Mainly the history CD, the centenary book, various editions of Rothmans Football Yearbook, bbc site and http://www.soccerbase.com regarding Scott McNiven. Svante Bernhard aka Sweden Stag (pictured, above right) |
Latest | August 2007