Nigel Clough celebrated a very special occasion on Tuesday night as he set a new record for the most EFL games overseen by a Mansfield Town manager.

The trip to AFC Wimbledon was his 275th league match as Stags boss, officially surpassing Ian Greaves’ previous record.

It was a milestone occasion for the history books, made even sweeter by the team’s 3-0 win. The victory is Stags’ first on the road this season and hopefully the start of a strong run both home and away in this competitive League One campaign.

Michael Smith scored a brace to give Stags a 2-0 lead at half-time, before Jon Russell put the match to bed in the second half for a big three points.

Nigel Clough, manager of Mansfield Town, celebrates at the final whistle of the Sky Bet League One 2026/27 match between AFC Wimbledon and Mansfield Town at The Cherry Red Records Stadium on October 20, 2026 in Wimbledon, England. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

placeholder image — Nigel Clough, manager of Mansfield Town, celebrates at the final whistle of the Sky Bet League One 2026/27 match between AFC Wimbledon and Mansfield Town at The Cherry Red Records Stadium on October 20, 2026 in Wimbledon, England. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

At full-time, Clough led his players over to the travelling fans who made the lengthy journey down to Plough Lane. The supporters were in full volume throughout the match and made their appreciation for the manager heard.

Reflecting on his landmark appearance for Stags, Clough said post-match: “It’s pretty special and to do it in the manner we did it tonight, that was the most important thing. A few hundred of our supporters come down on a night like this towards the end of October and it makes it special for them as well, I hope.”

The result against Wimbledon is a statement for Mansfield Town and takes their unbeaten run to five League One games. Prior to Stags’ visit south, the Dons had not conceded a single goal at home this season, but they will now need to recover from shipping three in one evening.

Stags had multiple chances outside of their goals as well, as they enjoyed an energetic start to the fixture.

“We had intent from the first minute. To have three chances of that quality in the first 11 or 12 minutes shows how we were going to set up,” Clough said. “I thought the midfield three were excellent, Jon Russell off Michael Smith. It was a very, very good team performance.”