The exact date of the club’s formation is not known, as football was known to be played long before records were kept. There is a record, however, of a match between Mansfield Wesleyans and the Sherwood Foresters, on September 4th 1897. The Wesleyans originating from the old Wesleyan Church on Bridge Street. At an AGM in 1910, it was proposed that a new name was needed to benefit from the image of being the major club in the town, so the name was changed to Mansfield Town. The new name upset bitter rivals Mansfield Mechanics, who thought that they were the better side in the town, and even though they probably were the best team, their protest was in vain.
Many thanks, are due to Paul Taylor. From not just me, but from Mansfield FC also, who passed my letter on to him, and he in turn although not employed by the club sorted me and in turn them right out. Thank you, Paul and I hope the powers that be at the club recognize the work you do for them in your spare time. Paul sent me some pictures of badges going back to the 1950s. (PIC 1) This badge is made up of elements of the Mansfield Borough coat of arms. (PIC2) At the top of the badge are the club’s initials and in the shield are the cross, taken from the former arms of the Borough of Mansfield, and the deer antlers symbolise the deer in Sherwood Forest. At the crest is a symbol of the Sherwood Forest oak tree. The motto “SICUT QUERCUS VIRESCIT INDUSTRIA”, translates from the Latin as, Industry Flourishes as the Oak. What looks like two 8s in the shield are in fact called Cotton Hanks. These are coiled units of yarn about 300 yards long or 270m in new money. The following badges took on a design from the club nickname “The Stags’.
The nickname came about in the 1920s at the same time as the club changed its colours to amber and blue. Paul goes on to tell me: “The exact origin of the Stags epithet is unknown, but is most likely from the stags on the town’s coat of arms, and its proximity to Sherwood Forest. There is a plaque on a building in the town centre which states that close to that place stood a tree which was reputedly the centre of Sherwood Forest.” (PIC 3) Apparently Robin Hood stayed in Mansfield more than any other place, so says the town, Mayor Tony Egginton. As well as the elements already covered, the coat of arms has its supporters of the stag and lion. (PIC 4)) The stag symbolises Sherwood Forest, as do the oak leaves on the supporters. The lion is an English lion and as you may have worked out, that is usually representative of good old Engerland. Both supporters wear a ducal crown around their necks symbolising the unofficial Dukeries associated with the area. The helmets on the shield are taken from the Mansfield Woodhouse coat of arms, and on the crest is the Sherwood Forest Oak, with the two lions beneath taken from the arms of Warsop, and you can just make out the pickaxes which alludes to the mining industry.
As we have established, the stag on these arms is the likely source of the club’s nickname and following badges. The first image is from the early 1960s, and has a gold stag’s head in a blue shield. (PIC 5) The late 1960s badge looks a little like Watford’s badge, in as much that the antlers make it look like a moose. (PIC 6) Into the 1970s, and on this round badge there is what looks a little like my dog, with an antler stuck rather painfully into the back of her head right between the ears, and at the side are the club’s initials. (PIC 7) The present badge is for me the better looking of them all, and has a majestic looking stag’s head that would not look out of place mounted on a Mansfield pub wall. It is in the shape of a shield, with the two halves decked out in the club colours, and has the clubs initials underneath. (PIC 8)
The name Mansfield is a combination of Celtic and Anglo-Saxon words, and literally means the field by the hill called Mam, from the Celtic word for a breast. Hills are of course normally breast-shaped, depending on the shape of your hill, or breasts come to that. The home of Mansfield FC is the 9,000 all-seated Field Mill, and not at all welcome are local rivals Chesterfield, Nott’s Forest and County. For more on “The Stags” hunt down www.mansfieldtown.net
