After an automatic promotion, third place finish in EFL League Two in 2024, Nigel Clough’s Mansfield Town just about pushed on last season, and ended the 2024/25 season seventeenth place (eighth bottom), eight points above the drop zone.

Although successes were difficult to come by throughout the season, the Stags have continued about their free-thinking, attack-mindedness throughout 2025, and have both started and finished the year with back-to-back wins in EFL League One.

The year began with consecutive 2-1 wins over Bolton Wanderers and Stockport County, Stephen McLaughlin and Lee Gregory netting in the former, and Lee Gregory and Will Evans the latter, after which the club embarked on a horrible, fourteen-match winless streak.

Four draws and ten defeats took the Stags through to mid-March, finally winning 2-1 at home to Barnsley on the 15 February ….. a highlight during that dour run would be the battling, 3-3 draw away to Blackpool (Will Evans, Keanu Baccus, Lucas Akins), as the hosts came from 3-1 down for a point.

The Stags registered the same score when away to Rotherham United two months later as well, this time Clough’s charges overturning a 3-1 deficit to earn point through goals from George Maris, Aden Flint, and Jordan Bowery.

Two chastening defeats followed, against Reading and Birmingham City, before the Stags returned to winning ways at the end of April with a 4-2 home win over Peterborough, a Will Evans brace adding to early goals from Maris and Baccus.

It was the first of two victories that concluded the 2024/25 season, the second of which came on 3 May, at home to Exeter City, goals from McLaughlin, Dom Dwyer, and Ben Waine, sealing a 3-0 win and that seventeenth place finish.

The 2025/26 season began with back-to-back defeats, before a first (league) win of the season was picked up in the 2-1 win at Exeter in mid-August (Frazer Blake-Tracy, Will Evans), the first game in a four-match, unbeaten league run.

Up-and-down form continued as the Stags saw placings at the top end, and bottom end of League One throughout the second half of the year; the 2-0 win away to Luton Town in mid-October was manager Clough’s 100th victory at the helm, the first Stags manager, in their history, to register a century in the Football League, Rhys Oates, and Tyler Roberts penalty, sending the points back to Mansfield.

Not only has Clough registered over a hundred Football League wins for the Stags, his five years at the helm has seen him take charge of 284 games (up to end December 2025); the former Nottingham Forest player, who made over 300 appearances for the Reds in the 1980s and 1990s, moved into management in the late-1990s, has had two spells at Burton Albion, whilst also leading Debry County and Sheffield United. Joining Mansfield in 2020, he has totalled 1558 games as a manager (to date), surpassing his father, the legendary Brian Clough’s 1453 games he notched up himself, between 1965 and 1993.

Back to the modern-day Mansfield and the latter months of 2025 have seen 3-2 wins registered over Harrogate Town and Barnsley, and a 1-0 win over Bolton Wanderers, to close the year out.

At home to Harrogate, in the FA Cup First Round, at the start of November, the Stags won through with Regan Hendry’s opener being added to by a second half, George Maris brace, the winner of which came seven minutes from time, and after the visitors had equalised just three minutes prior.

The Stags also saw off hosts Accrington Stanley in the Second Round, on penalties (following a 2-2 draw) at the start of December, to set up a Third Round game in January; meanwhile the Stags closed off 2025 with those back-to-back wins over Barnsley and Bolton.

Barnsley were beaten 3-2 at Oakwell on Boxing Day, despite former Stags favourite, Davis Keillor-Dunn’s attempts to spoil the Christmas Party, the visitors winning through with goals from Louis Reed (pen), Stephen McLaughlin, and Aaron Lewis, with seven minutes left.

Then Bolton were edged 1-0 at Toughsheet Community Stadium on 29 December, the games’ only goal coming from Rhys Oates, a couple of minutes before the break, setting the Stags up rather nicely for 2026 – although League One is looking rather tight at present.

With the Stags closing the year in eleventh place, on twenty-nine points, they start the new year eight points off sixth place Bolton, who hold the last playoff spot; however just five points separate the six sides on twenty-nine (Wycombe Wanderers, Reading, Mansfield Town, Wigan Athletic, Blackpool, and Peterborough United) down to Rotherham United on twenty-four points (third bottom).

Now it’s onto 2026, beginning with the New Years Day clash at home to Bradford City, away to Rotherham United three days later, and the FA Cup Third Round meeting away to Sheffield United on Saturday 11 January – four further games round out what is a busy start to the New Year, and there’s still so, so much to play for.

*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).

*Main image @mansfieldtownfc Rhys Oates ended 2025 and started 2026 in scoring form.