# 1973–74 Mansfield Town F.C. season

The 1973–74 season was Mansfield Town's 37th season in the Football League and 5th in the Fourth Division, they finished in 17th position with 43 points.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 15 | Rotherham United | 46 | 15 | 13 | 18 | 56 | 58 | 0.966 | 43 |
| 16 | Torquay United | 46 | 13 | 17 | 16 | 52 | 57 | 0.912 | 43 |
| 17 | Mansfield Town | 46 | 13 | 17 | 16 | 62 | 69 | 0.899 | 43 |
| 18 | Scunthorpe United | 45 | 14 | 12 | 19 | 47 | 64 | 0.734 | 42 |
| 19 | Brentford | 46 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 48 | 50 | 0.960 | 40 |
* ↑ Scunthorpe United v. Exeter was never played; Exeter failed to turn up and Scunthorpe were awarded the points.

## Results
### Football League Fourth Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 25 August 1973 | Peterborough United | A | 1–2 | 7,045 | Eccles |
| 2 | 1 September 1973 | Northampton Town | H | 2–0 | 3,109 | Eccles, Roberts |
| 3 | 8 September 1973 | Barnsley | A | 1–1 | 2,487 | Thompson |
| 4 | 10 September 1973 | Stockport County | A | 1–1 | 3,665 | Eccles |
| 5 | 15 September 1973 | Swansea City | H | 2–1 | 3,250 | Roberts, Bird |
| 6 | 17 September 1973 | Chester | H | 3–0 | 3,938 | Eccles (3) |
| 7 | 22 September 1973 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 1–1 | 1,797 | Roberts |
| 8 | 29 September 1973 | Darlington | H | 1–0 | 3,254 | Jones |
| 9 | 3 October 1973 | Chester | A | 1–1 | 2,693 | Laverick |
| 10 | 9 October 1973 | Newport County | A | 0–2 | 3,107 | |
| 11 | 13 October 1973 | Hartlepool | H | 2–0 | 3,107 | Laverick, Roberts |
| 12 | 20 October 1973 | Reading | A | 0–3 | 6,357 | |
| 13 | 22 October 1973 | Stockport County | H | 5–0 | 3,443 | Longhorn, Eccles (3), Roberts |
| 14 | 27 October 1973 | Torquay United | H | 2–1 | 3,924 | Bird, Eccles |
| 15 | 3 November 1973 | Brentford | A | 1–4 | 4,331 | McCaffrey |
| 16 | 10 November 1973 | Colchester United | H | 2–2 | 3,306 | Longhorn, Eccles |
| 17 | 14 November 1973 | Bradford City | A | 1–3 | 3,276 | Bird |
| 18 | 17 November 1973 | Gillingham | H | 2–2 | 2,908 | McCaffrey, Roberts |
| 19 | 1 December 1973 | Rotherham United | H | 3–0 | 2,787 | Eccles, Christopher, Swift (o.g.) |
| 20 | 8 December 1973 | Scunthorpe United | A | 3–5 | 2,575 | Eccles, McCaffrey, Walker |
| 21 | 22 December 1973 | Darlington | A | 0–1 | 1,603 | |
| 22 | 26 December 1973 | Lincoln City | H | 4–3 | 4,529 | Peplow, Eccles (2), Cooper (o.g.) |
| 23 | 29 December 1973 | Barnsley | H | 2–2 | 4,141 | Peplow, Walker |
| 24 | 1 January 1974 | Northampton Town | A | 0–2 | 6,231 | |
| 25 | 12 January 1974 | Swansea City | A | 0–2 | 4,196 | |
| 26 | 20 January 1974 | Peterborough United | H | 2–1 | 4,196 | Peplow, Eccles |
| 27 | 27 January 1974 | Bury | A | 0–2 | 6,222 | |
| 28 | 10 February 1974 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 1–2 | 2,690 | Eccles |
| 29 | 17 February 1974 | Hartlepool | A | 0–4 | 4,067 | |
| 30 | 24 February 1974 | Newport County | H | 2–1 | 3,006 | Roberts, Lathan |
| 31 | 3 March 1974 | Lincoln City | A | 1–1 | 2,615 | Eccles |
| 32 | 9 March 1974 | Exeter City | A | 1–1 | 3,669 | Lathan |
| 33 | 10 March 1974 | Torquay United | A | 0–4 | 2,843 | |
| 34 | 16 March 1974 | Reading | H | 1–1 | 2,183 | Eccles |
| 35 | 18 March 1974 | Exeter City | H | 3–3 | 2,401 | Laverick (2), Bird |
| 36 | 22 March 1974 | Colchester United | A | 0–1 | 4,695 | |
| 37 | 26 March 1974 | Doncaster Rovers | A | 0–0 | 1,894 | |
| 38 | 30 March 1974 | Brentford | H | 1–1 | 1,909 | Lathan |
| 39 | 1 April 1974 | Bury | H | 1–2 | 2,627 | Lathan |
| 40 | 6 April 1974 | Bradford City | H | 0–0 | 2,114 | |
| 41 | 13 April 1974 | Gillingham | A | 2–2 | 7,972 | Lathan, Bird |
| 42 | 15 April 1974 | Workington | A | 0–0 | 1,094 | |
| 43 | 17 April 1974 | Workington | H | 2–0 | 2,329 | Eccles, Bird |
| 44 | 20 April 1974 | Scunthorpe United | H | 2–2 | 2,342 | Foster, Bird |
| 45 | 27 April 1974 | Rotherham United | A | 1–2 | 2,632 | Laverick |
| 46 | 29 April 1974 | Doncaster Rovers | H | 2–0 | 2,474 | Edwards, Bird |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R1 | 24 November 1973 | York City | A | 0–0 | 4,254 | |
| R1 Replay | 10 December 1973 | York City | H | 5–3 | 4,773 | Eccles, McCaffrey, Thompson, Foster, Walker |
| R2 | 15 December 1973 | Scunthorpe United | H | 1–1 | 4,511 | Eccles |
| R2 Replay | 18 December 1973 | Scunthorpe United | A | 0–1 | 2,679 | |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R1 | 29 August 1973 | Chesterfield | H | 1–1 | 7,321 | Laverick |
| R1 Replay | 3 September 1973 | Chesterfield | A | 0–1 | 5,771 | |

### Watney Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R1 | 11 August 1973 | Hull City | H | 0–3 | 6,137 | |

## Squad statistics

* Squad list sourced from 1973–74 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 | Watney Cup | Watney Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Rod Arnold | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| GK | Graham Brown | 17 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| DF | Kevin Bird | 44 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 8 |
| DF | Frank Burrows | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| DF | Dick Edwards | 31(2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33(2) | 1 |
| DF | Barry Foster | 19(3) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23(4) | 0 |
| DF | Colin Foster | 24(3) | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29(4) | 2 |
| DF | Bill Grozier | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | Dave Lyon | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| DF | Tony Parry | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 |
| DF | Sandy Pate | 46 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 53 | 0 |
| DF | Sammy Todd | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| DF | Clive Walker | 42 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 3 |
| MF | Paul Jones | 15(5) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17(5) | 1 |
| MF | John Lathan | 17 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 5 |
| MF | Micky Laverick | 30(6) | 5 | 1(1) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33(7) | 6 |
| MF | Dennis Longhorn | 28(1) | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35(1) | 2 |
| MF | Paul Matthews | 12(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13(1) | 0 |
| MF | Jim McCaffrey | 37(3) | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 42(4) | 4 |
| FW | Paul Christopher | 7(1) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9(1) | 1 |
| FW | Trevor Cook | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Terry Eccles | 44 | 20 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 51 | 22 |
| FW | Steve Peplow | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| FW | Dudley Roberts | 27(1) | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33(21) | 7 |
| FW | Dave Thompson | 17 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 2 |
| – | Own goals | – | 2 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 2 |