How Mansfield turned 'heartbreak' into promotion joy

Mansfield Town is going to compete in the third division next season. This is the first time in 21 years that they will be playing at this level.

The individuals behind Mansfield Town's promotion have described the journey to League One as dreadful and emotionally devastating.

During the tumultuous and celebratory chaos of thousands of Mansfield supporters rushing onto the One Call Stadium field to rejoice in their promotion-sealing victory over Accrington on Tuesday, the comments made by Stags manager Nigel Clough and owner John Radford appeared to contradict the joyful atmosphere of the moment.

However, these were the exact reasons why the Stags celebrated so intensely, with teammates lifting each other up and Clough being praised by chants from the thankful crowd of supporters.

At last, Mansfield, a team that has been continually close to promotion, managed to achieve it.

The team experienced a lot of frustration in the past, including losing the play-off final at Wembley in 2022, failing to qualify for automatic promotion on the last day of 2019 and narrowly missing out on the play-offs last season. However, the team's recent celebration was a release of these past frustrations.

Radford spoke to BBC Sport and stated that losing in football matches are not times of hopelessness. Although it may bring disappointment, their team aims to continue striving for success every season.

"We don't dwell on the past; we are constantly focused on moving forward. Our goal was to advance and reach League One, and we have successfully achieved that objective."

Painful Efforts

Clough was appointed to oversee operations at Field Mill in November of last year.

Since then, every season has seen the Stags strive for a promotion spot.

The fact that he narrowly missed out on promotion in the last two seasons has only made him more determined to achieve it now.

After losing at Wembley, he expressed his dislike for football, but when asked if his feelings had changed during a joyful evening, he instead repeated his original statement.

Clough informed BBC East Midlands Today, "We are presently relishing one, but it was a challenging journey lasting three years that involved immense exertion and significant suffering to attain this juncture."

The game has the potential to be terrible and unfortunately, it continues to be that way quite often.

A few years ago, we departed Wembley in a very sad and disappointed state, so this is a bit of a retribution for that experience.

Mansfield's win over Accrington propelled them to the second position. Although Stockport has already won the League Two title, coach Clough wants his team to finish the season on a high note before shifting their focus to their first season in the third tier after 21 years.

Clough expressed his excitement to BBC Radio Nottingham about their recent promotion, referring to it as fantastic news. He emphasized the importance of their final two games, stating their goal to finish the season with the maximum amount of points possible.

For now, the team is getting ready for their new life in League One, which is a lower level of football competition. It has been almost two decades since the team last played in this division, back when it was called the Second Division during the 2002-03 season.

Can The Stags Compete In League One?

According to Clough, they didn't take unnecessary risks by starting their plans early. He also emphasized that past attempts at promotion were irrelevant since their current situation is unique.

Ollie Clarke, a midfielder who joined the club in 2020, stated that they plan to leave a mark in League One. Mansfield has only played in this league once in the last thirty years.

Clarke commented that there is an abundance of excellence within our group. He emphasized the importance of keeping the group united.

It's clear that the quality has gotten better and we should aim to elevate our expectations.

In my opinion, I believe every individual in this group possesses the skills to perform better, thus, there should be no reason why we cannot elevate our performance and compete significantly in the upcoming season.

Although Mansfield may not be familiar with League One, Clough is no stranger to the division as he has previously managed teams in the third tier such as Sheffield United and Burton.

At the Brewers, the 58-year-old accomplished his greatest achievement by leading the small east Staffordshire club to the Championship while working with limited resources.

Following Clough's expression of gratitude towards the Stags owners for providing him with the necessary time and resources to secure promotion to League Two, he was queried as to whether he could replicate his accomplishment with Burton whilst managing the Nottinghamshire club.

He laughed and replied, "Wait a minute, we've only been promoted from League Two for a few minutes."

Take some time to absorb this information, and then we can start shifting our focus to the upcoming season.