Geographically, Mansfield lay on the border between the catchment areas of the Northern and Southern sections of the regionalised Third Division of the League. They had previously applied for election to the Northern Section; for the 1931–32 season, they applied to the Southern Section, and were admitted. After one season, in which they struggled, the team was reallocated to the Northern Section, before returning to the Southern in 1937. Competitive football was suspended for the duration of the Second World War. Mansfield finished 22nd and bottom in the first post-war season, and thus had to apply for re-election to the League. The management committee decided that in light of the difficult circumstances facing all clubs in resuming competitive professional football after the war, all clubs facing re-election should be accepted unopposed. Mansfield were transferred to the Northern Section for 1947–48. Three seasons later, they finished runners-upat that time, only the champions were promotedand reached the fifth round (last 16) of the FA Cup for the first time, losing to First Division team and eventual cup finalists Blackpool. Against a background of financial and governance problems that brought the club close to bankruptcy, Mansfield remained in the Northern Section until the regional sections were amalgamated into national Third and Fourth Divisions in 1958, when they were placed in the Third Division.