Mansfield Town FC, the Stags, is a football club not exactly steeped in success. Based in a small mining town in Nottinghamshire, it has spent most of its existence in the fourth tier of English football. Recent years have proved more successful, however. In the 2023-24 season, Mansfield Town were promoted into EFL League One for the first time in over two decades. I was in the stands for the win that secured that promotion, cheering on the Mansfield Town I hold dear.
Successful cup runs for the Stags have been few and far between. To see their last, and only, piece of silverware, you would have to dust off their EFL Trophy from 1987. In terms of domestic cups, Mansfield Town fans have long had little to be excited about.
Now, however, Mansfield Town faces one of the biggest games of its history: an FA Cup fifth-round tie, at home, to the current Premier League titans Arsenal FC. If Mansfield can find a way to win on Saturday, I think it might be the greatest day of my life.
Mansfield Town is no stranger to Premier League opposition in its current campaign, having overcome Burnley 2-1 in the fourth round to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time in over 50 years. That win, aided by a spectacular free kick by midfielder Louis Reed, secured £127,000 in prize money for the Stags — a vital boost for a League One club. Could David take down yet another Goliath?
It has been done before. Mansfield’s only previous win in the fifth round came in the 1968-69 season, beating an iconic West Ham side boasting the likes of Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst, fresh off winning England’s only World Cup to date. You cannot blame Stags fans for wondering if another win against a star-studded Premier League team at this stage of the competition might be possible.
I spoke to my grandad Bill ahead of the game, as you would be hard-pressed to find anyone more devoted to Mansfield Town. Having been a season ticket holder for over 30 years, he is somewhat of an authority on the matter. He still fondly remembers the first match he ever attended in 1946, at the age of five.
Bill would be “amazed” if Mansfield do manage to beat Arsenal and pins his hopes on heavy rotation in the Arsenal camp. The current favourites to lift the Premier League title have a Champion’s League round of 16 tie against Leverkusen just four days later, as well as the EFL Cup final two weeks later. Combined with only being five points ahead of title rivals Manchester City, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta may not want to risk his star players getting injured. On the other hand, underestimating any fifth round team in the FA Cup would be unwise for a team seeking a historic quadruple in titles.
I wouldn’t hold my breath for a Mansfield upset, but I can’t seem to resist dreaming big. In the words of the Mansfield Town team song recorded before securing their EFL Trophy back in 1987:
Come on the Stags, we know you can win, let’s see a little Mansfield magic.
Photo by Seth Reader for The Student
