The first game of the Easter double header sees Stanley return to the Store First Stadium to take on Mansfield Town.
As kick off approaches, the official website takes a look at all the things you need to know.
History
The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and joined the Mansfield and District Amateur League in time for the 1902/03 season. The club then changed their name to Mansfield Wesley in 1906 and joined the Notts and District League.
The club then became known as Mansfield Town in 1910. In 1921 the Stags were admitted into the Midland Counties League and won the league title on two occasions, in 1924 and 1929.
In 1931 the Stags were elected into the football league, joining the Southern Section of the Third Division. In the 1959/60 season the Stags were relegated to the recently created Fourth Division before winning promotion back to the Third Division in the 1962/63 season.
The club was again relegated in 1972, before gaining another promotion back to the Third Division three seasons later. In the 1976/77 season the Stags were promoted to the Second Division for the only time in their history. The Stags spell in the Second Division proved to be short lived, as they were relegated the following season.
In 1987 the Stags won the Freight Rover Trophy, beating Bristol City on penalties after a 1-1 draw, in front of 58,000 fans at Wembley.
In the 2007/08 season the Stags were relegated to the Conference Premier, before being promoted back into the football league at the end of last season.
Paul Cox
41 year old Cox took over at the Stags in 2011 and led the club to the Conference Premier title last season. Cox’s only other previous managerial experience was a spell at Eastwood Town between 2006 and 2011.
Prior to being a manager Cox enjoyed his most successful spell at Notts County. Cox also had spells at Hull City, Kettering Town, Halifax Town and Hucknall Town.
Martin Riley
The former Wolves trainee joined the Stags last summer to embark on his second spell at the One Call Stadium.
Riley is one of the most promising defenders in the division and has been known to pop up at the other end of the pitch with the odd goal or two.
The 25 year old joined Kidderminster upon his release from Molineux and went on to play 67 times for them before joining Cheltenham Town.
After another 60+ games for The Robins he signed for his first spell at the Stags but left after just one season to join Wrexham.
The two sides have met on 48 previous occasions, with Mansfield holding the upper hand with 20 wins to Stanley’s 17. There have been eleven draws.
Only six of those meetings have come in the last 50 years though, with the Reds winning four and only losing one.
In December stoppage time goals from Kal Naismith and James Gray turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 win for the Reds at the OneCall Stadium.
Stanley have only lost one of their last six matches at the Store First Stadium and bounced back from the home defeat to Northampton Town with a 1-1 draw at York last weekend.
James Beattie’s side are 17th in the League Two table, four points ahead of Northampton who occupy the second relegation place and three behind 13th placed Newport.
The Stags are unbeaten in their last six matches and have won four on the bounce including a 3-0 home win over then league leaders Rochdale last weekend.
They sit tenth in the League Two table, six points behind the play-off places and six points better off than the Reds.
Beattie should have a full strength squad to select from after Dean Winnard recovered from the illness that saw him miss last weekend’s game at Bootham Crescent.
Rob Atkinson stepped in then and the pair will now fight it out to see who partners Tom Aldred at centre back.
Marcus Carver and Laurence Wilson are both back in training following injury.
Stanley Top Scorers
Peter Murphy 9
Kal Naismith 9
Lee Molyneux 6
Kayode Odejayi 6
James Gray 4
Danny Webber 3
George Bowerman 3
Mansfield Top Scorers
Sam Clucas 13
Matthew Rhead 6
Lee Stevenson 6
Ollie Palmer 5
Anthony Howell 4
The Man in the Middle
Richard Clark (Northumberland)
This Season: 28 games 91 yellow cards 10 reds
Last ASFC Game: 16/11/13: Scunthorpe 0 ASFC 2
Website
Admission Prices
This is a category B match – more info can be found by clicking the link HERE
