# 1996–97 Mansfield Town F.C. season

The 1996–97 season was Mansfield Town's 60th season in the Football League and 24th in the Third Division they finished in 11th position with 64 points.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 9 | Lincoln City | 46 | 18 | 12 | 16 | 70 | 69 | +1 | 66 |
| 10 | Cambridge United | 46 | 18 | 11 | 17 | 53 | 59 | −6 | 65 |
| 11 | Mansfield Town | 46 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 47 | 45 | +2 | 64 |
| 12 | Scarborough | 46 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 66 | 69 | −3 | 63 |
| 13 | Scunthorpe United | 46 | 18 | 9 | 19 | 59 | 62 | −3 | 63 |

## Results
### Football League Third Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 17 August 1996 | Exeter City | H | 0–1 | 2,149 | |
| 2 | 24 August 1996 | Northampton Town | A | 0–3 | 4,162 | |
| 3 | 27 August 1996 | Hartlepool United | A | 2–2 | 2,275 | Sale, Hadley |
| 4 | 31 August 1996 | Rochdale | H | 0–0 | 1,861 | |
| 5 | 7 September 1996 | Doncaster Rovers | A | 0–0 | 1,814 | |
| 6 | 10 September 1996 | Barnet | H | 0–0 | 1,505 | |
| 7 | 14 September 1996 | Leyton Orient | H | 0–2 | 1,839 | |
| 8 | 21 September 1996 | Fulham | A | 2–1 | 5,740 | Hadley, Harper |
| 9 | 28 September 1996 | Hereford United | H | 3–1 | 1,889 | Doolan, Sedgemore, Walker |
| 10 | 1 October 1996 | Hull City | A | 1–1 | 3,579 | Eustace |
| 11 | 5 October 1996 | Carlisle United | A | 1–1 | 5,509 | Helliwell |
| 12 | 12 October 1996 | Swansea City | H | 0–0 | 2,003 | |
| 13 | 15 October 1996 | Wigan Athletic | H | 0–1 | 1,942 | |
| 14 | 19 October 1996 | Darlington | A | 4–2 | 2,532 | Hadley (2), Sale, Watkiss |
| 15 | 26 October 1996 | Scarborough | A | 1–2 | 2,521 | Kay (o.g.) |
| 16 | 29 October 1996 | Torquay United | H | 1–2 | 1,632 | Wood |
| 17 | 2 November 1996 | Scunthorpe United | H | 2–0 | 2,210 | Sedgemore, Kilcline |
| 18 | 9 November 1996 | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | 1–1 | 1,933 | Harper |
| 19 | 23 November 1996 | Lincoln City | A | 0–0 | 3,548 | |
| 20 | 30 November 1996 | Scarborough | H | 2–0 | 1,981 | Wood (2) |
| 21 | 3 December 1996 | Cambridge United | A | 1–2 | 2,179 | Kilcline |
| 22 | 14 December 1996 | Colchester United | H | 1–1 | 1,653 | Sale |
| 23 | 21 December 1996 | Cardiff City | A | 1–1 | 2,238 | Sale (2) |
| 24 | 26 December 1996 | Barnet | A | 1–1 | 1,778 | Primus (o.g.) |
| 25 | 4 January 1997 | Leyton Orient | A | 1–2 | 3,422 | Doolan |
| 26 | 11 January 1997 | Hereford United | A | 1–0 | 1,873 | Walker |
| 27 | 18 January 1997 | Hull City | H | 1–0 | 2,286 | Kilcline |
| 28 | 21 January 1997 | Doncaster Rovers | H | 2–0 | 2,093 | Eustace, Clarke |
| 29 | 1 February 1997 | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | 1–1 | 2,456 | Doolan |
| 30 | 4 February 1997 | Chester City | H | 0–2 | 1,688 | |
| 31 | 8 February 1997 | Scunthorpe United | A | 2–0 | 2,600 | Doolan, Martindale |
| 32 | 15 February 1997 | Lincoln City | H | 2–2 | 3,037 | Sedgemore, Martindale |
| 33 | 18 February 1997 | Torquay United | A | 2–1 | 3,402 | Clarke, Walker |
| 34 | 22 February 1997 | Chester City | A | 0–1 | 2,385 | |
| 35 | 1 March 1997 | Cambridge United | H | 1–0 | 2,163 | Doolan |
| 36 | 8 March 1997 | Cardiff City | A | 1–3 | 2,569 | Hackett |
| 37 | 14 March 1997 | Colchester United | A | 1–2 | 3,064 | Dunne (o.g.) |
| 38 | 22 March 1997 | Northampton Town | H | 1–0 | 2,569 | Eustace |
| 39 | 29 March 1997 | Exeter City | A | 0–0 | 3,181 | |
| 40 | 31 March 1997 | Hartlepool United | H | 1–0 | 2,229 | Sedgemore |
| 41 | 5 April 1997 | Rochdale | A | 1–0 | 1,619 | Cresswell |
| 42 | 8 April 1997 | Fulham | H | 0–0 | 3,889 | |
| 43 | 11 April 1997 | Carlisle United | H | 0–0 | 4,375 | |
| 44 | 19 April 1997 | Swansea City | A | 2–3 | 4,786 | Eustace, Ford |
| 45 | 26 April 1997 | Darlington | H | 2–1 | 2,431 | Doolan, Ford |
| 46 | 3 May 1997 | Wigan Athletic | A | 0–2 | 7,106 | |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R1 | 16 November 1996 | Consett | H | 4–0 | 3,183 | Wood, Eustace, Doolan, Ford |
| R2 | 7 December 1996 | Stockport County | H | 0–3 | 3,354 | |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R1 1st leg | 15 August 1996 | Burnley | H | 0–3 | 1,708 | |
| R1 2nd leg | 3 September 1996 | Burnley | A | 0–2 | 2,884 | |

### League Trophy

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R2 | 13 January 1997 | Bury | A | 0–6 | 1,331 | |

## Squad statistics

* Squad list sourced from 1996–97 Mansfield Town F.C. season at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | League Trophy | League Trophy | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Ian Bowling | 46 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 51 | 0 |
| DF | Mark Clifford | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| DF | Warren Hackett | 35(1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 39(1) | 1 |
| DF | Leigh Holbrook | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 |
| DF | Brian Kilcline | 30(1) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 34(1) | 3 |
| DF | Paul Sherlock | 14(5) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14(7) | 0 |
| DF | Stuart Watkiss | 30(1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32(1) | 1 |
| MF | Darrell Clarke | 17(2) | 2 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 17(4) | 2 |
| MF | John Doolan | 41 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 7 |
| MF | Scott Eustace | 41(1) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 45(1) | 5 |
| MF | Simon Ireland | 5(1) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7(2) | 0 |
| MF | David Kerr | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| MF | Ian Robinson | 3(5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4(6) | 0 |
| MF | Ben Sedgemore | 37(2) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 39(2) | 4 |
| MF | Johnny Walker | 33(3) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 36(3) | 3 |
| MF | Lee Williams | 3(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3(3) | 0 |
| FW | Iyseden Christie | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| FW | Richard Cresswell | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| FW | Tony Ford | 25(2) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 28(2) | 3 |
| FW | Stewart Hadley | 31(5) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35(5) | 4 |
| FW | Steve Harper | 37(3) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 42(3) | 2 |
| FW | Ian Helliwell | 4(1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4(1) | 1 |
| FW | Glynn Hurst | 5(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 5(2) | 0 |
| FW | Gary Martindale | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| FW | Mark Sale | 12(6) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15(6) | 5 |
| FW | Ryan Williams | 4(12) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6(13) | 0 |
| FW | Simon Wood | 23(8) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 27(8) | 4 |
| FW | Chris Young | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 |
| – | Own goals | – | 3 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 3 |