Left Stag: April - Everyone's Stags

 I met Emma in the summer of 2018. England had just been knocked out of the World Cup. A week earlier, she had uncharacteristically wandered into a pub, on her own, to watch England’s match against Sweden. The streets were deserted and I guess she wanted to see what the fuss was about. She sat there, alone, until suddenly someone said hello to her. It was my brother-in-law, Craig, who she sort of knew from living in the area. Word had obviously reached him that we had this upcoming date, so he took it upon himself to mention it and, to Emma’s horror, that I was “really into football”. Her heart probably sank at the thought, sitting there among all the Carlsberg-swilling blokes, neck tattoos peaking above the collars of their Turkish knock-off England shirts. As it happened, when the day arrived, I didn’t mention much about football and it passed sufficiently well that here we are, nearly eight years later, with a house, a wedding and a daughter to show for it. I’m sure (*I hope) she knows me well enough by now to understand why, among that pantheon of legacies, I add one quite predictable achievement – I’ve got her watching football.

Reading this column, as she loyally always does, she may feel the urge to contest this point.

 However, I would encourage her to study the facts and review her own transition from a self-proclaimed football hater, to excitable touchline soccer-mom. She’s been on a journey. She was downcast with us at Wembley, with a bun in the oven. She was up and joyous in the Quarry Lane End for our League Two promotion party. She checks the scores, begrudgingly agrees to me going to away games and always comforts or congratulates me, depending on how the results go. I wasn’t sure at first, but I think she may be the one! It has helped that my step-daughter, our middle child, is a talented young player. She’s on the books at Forest, but it’s on Sundays for Mansfield Town Girls U12s that she enjoys her football most and we, her devoted fans, do too. Through watching, talking, living and breathing girls’ football, Emma’s developed a good understanding of the game, to the point where I think she actually enjoys it now - sometimes. She’s watched dozens of live and televised games, from England men and women to Premier League and Champions League - and best of all, my Stags! When the club recently released the early-bird season ticket offer, I half-jokingly suggested we should get some as a family and was shot down immediately, and I don’t think it was the unusually high-prices or relatively low excitement levels as this league season draws to an end. I’ve clearly still got some work to do…

In mid-April, Mansfield reached the fifty-four-point mark (last season’s total tally) by way of a 0-0 draw at Leyton Orient, with five games left and fifteen points still up for grabs. It comes after defeat to Wigan ended a nice unbeaten run, including wins against Reading, Northampton and Donny, that took us clear of the strugglers and comfortably into mid-table. We are currently 14th, having finished 17th last term. It’s progress. I’ve spoken a fair bit about Nigel Clough’s slow and steady advance. It’s what we now expect – nothing flashy or above our station, just solidly moving in the right direction with the league position, the infrastructure, the club’s finances and the gates. My wife was referencing the turbulence and uncertainty that surrounded Mansfield’s attempts at promotion in the first years of our relationship, during which we had a playoff semi-final defeat on penalties, a relegation scare, a playoff final loss, a near miss of the playoffs by one goal and then finally, promotion, before settling in and stabilising as a League One club. There was never a dull moment, it seemed. What she couldn’t know or appreciate, was that in the two decades before she entered my life, it was almost entirely miserable – the footy, that is. As exciting as the chase for promotion had been for everyone, for lifelong fans of the club, it didn’t erase the dark memories of the Haslam years, relegation to the fifth tier and genuine, existential jeopardy. We spent years, frantically running around a footballing desert, desperately searching for water. We now feel like a calm camel, plodding ever onwards, sure of its destination. I have no doubts that we have the right people in charge, from top to bottom, and I’m absolutely fine with it not being an exciting end to this season.

Nigel Clough seems to be fine with it too. As the last few minutes of the match at Brisbane Road approached, the Orient manager Richie Wellens, called over to the Stags boss and offered a cease-fire. Clough accepted and, after the managers had passed the message to their respective players, both teams played out injury time with no intention of tackling each other, let alone trying to score a winner. It was bizarre to watch – something I don’t think I’ve witnessed before and I’m not sure I want to again! I am, given the trauma of the past, quite tolerant of mid-table mediocracy - I imagine I will be for some years to come - but there will be a point when, in the minds of fans like me, stability will come up against entertainment in a clash of expectations, and find it a well-matched adversary. That isn’t now. For me, Clough can have a job for life, if he wants it, but clubs have cultures and Mansfield have, admittedly for a lower-league club, always valued a certain style of attacking, exciting football.

I look at League One’s worthy champions elect, Lincoln. Having seen them beat us this season, they appear steeped in the DNA of past Lincoln teams – big, nasty, long-ball playing, dark-arts masters. All power to them – it works. My worry for us is that, after Clough leaves - next season or the one after that, we will be at a crossroads. With so much done off the pitch to improve the training ground, stadium and attendance figures, we will risk losing that momentum if we don’t choose the right person. They will have massive boots to fill. We’ll need perspective and patience, but it would be great to have more fan involvement in the decision-making. The announcement that, as of next season, a four-person Fan Advisory Board will have a consultative role at the club, is hopefully a step in that direction. Without wanting to get too far ahead of myself here, when the time comes, I’d love us to prioritise the traditions of community spirit, local pride, attacking football and a focus on youth development, that are for me, the key strands that comprise our own club DNA. As for the here and now, let’s sit back and enjoy the run in – not something we’ve been able to say too much in recent years. Sorry, Emma.