OPINION: Dip in form shouldn't mask the success this season has been for Mansfield Town

Here I'll be looking at how the season has gone so, based on th players brought in, form throughout the season, league position and what my expectation was for the newly-promoted Stags before the season began. I will also talk about what I believe the future holds for Mansfield Town.

Signings

Mansfield Town brought in the experience of Lee Gregory, a forward who began his career with Mansfield Town and has plenty of goals in the division, while also completing the permanent transfers of: Australian International Keanu Baccus and other high quality players such as: Frazer Blake-Tracy, Adedeji Oshilaja, Will Evans and the highly rated young striker Ben Quinn. This active transfer window gave me a big belief that Stags would secure survival in League One comfortably. So, how is the season going so far for the Stags? Well, in my opinion, it is safe to say that at the beginning of the season Mansfield Town were absolutely flying! With only 2 league defeats in the first 12 games of the season including a superb victory against Barnsley which I do not think many of us expected on opening night and a draw against top of the league and very affluent Birmingham City!

This incredible and personally unexpected start landed Stags in an exceptionally good position in the league table, sitting in a playoff spot and deservedly so. However, what can only be described as a downfall transpired at the beginning of November where Mansfield Town did not win a single league match from the 28th of October until the 21st of December. And after a little resurgence in form around the festive period with Stags winning 4 out of 5 league games. As of the 10th of March 2025, we have not won a league match since the 4th of January.

While safety is not guaranteed, Mansfield Town sit 16th in League one, 8 points clear of the relegation zone. As a fan of Mansfield Town, I still see this so far as a very successful season, despite the drop off of form over the past few months. The new signings have given a good foundation and I think where the Stags sit in the league table now is an accurate representation of what people expected towards the start of the season.

In the future, I can see Stags pushing for a playoff place, there are some incredible players at this club and if we can have a bit of stability in the division then I think we can begin to climb up the table as the years go on.

Although the success of Stockport County and Wrexham cannot be underestimated, we all must remember that Mansfield Town are a newly promoted team in this far more competitive league which has not included Stags since 2003/04 and to be where they are is very impressive in my opinion.

Overall, I do believe Mansfield Town are doing well so far this season, they currently sit 16th in the table, although not winning for a while, the signing of highly experienced goalscorer Dominic Dwyer I am sure will give the Stags support a lot more to cheer about in these final 11 games of the season. It has been frustrating at times for this support, but the wins will come, I am sure of it.