Former Mansfield Town captain Jake Buxton speaks of regrets over how his time at club ended

Buxton, a local lad and the youngest captain in the country when the Stags dropped out of the league in 2008, said he probably had to unfairly bear the brunt of the fans’ anger at what was going wrong on and off the pitch.

That culminated on the last say of the season, the central defender recalled, with fans chanting that he would never play for the Stags again after he was sent off at Dagenham.

Buxton eventually left the club just before the start of the following season after, he says, the new owners did not show him any respect.

In the candid interview with Colin Gibson for Rams TV at Derby County, Buxton remembered his time at Mansfield, where he started his career as a local lad, winning the Conference title at Burton Albion and then following manager Nigel Clough for a successful spell at Derby County in the Championship.

Buxton, who is now back at Burton for a second spell, remains a cult hero at both Burton and Derby.

But he started his career at Mansfield and recalled: “I got the opportunity early doors to get in the first team (October 2002). We were in League One and struggling. Keith Curle was manager and I did OK.

“The following season when I reported back I got sent out on loan to Alfreton, then I was recalled and got straight back into the team.

“I never looked back and, being a local lad at Mansfield, probably one of my greatest achievements was to captain my hometown club.

“I was the youngest captain in the country at the time... 21. We had an oustanding couple of seasons with me and (Alex) Baptiste, who was a good player and went on to better things; Stephen Dawson, a great player.

“Then we started to decline. A couple of managers got sacked - Keith Curle, Carlton Palmer, Billy Dearden, Stuart Watkiss, Paul Holland.

“Then the fans turned on the owner, Keith Haslam, and it became tough. We got relegated from the Football League and I was captain.

“There was no owner and no full-time manager. There was no one (for fans) to blame other than the captain and players. By the end it became bitter.

“I will probably always regret how I left the club because I walked out in a huff.

“I felt like I had given every day and every minute to the club growing up. But at Dagenham away (at the end of the season after relegation) after I was sent off they sung I would never play for the club again.

“For someone who cares for the club - I look for the scores every week - it really hurt me and my family at the time.”

Buxton said he hoped to return to the club “at some point”, adding: “I do believe I will go back. I want to.”

But that relegation means his memories of his time at Field Mill (now One Call Stadium) ended on a very sour note,

He continued: “I took the brunt of what was going wrong (at that time). Somebody deserved to be blamed. I’m not too sure I was the right person, bearing in mind I was a young captain, local and giving everything for the club.

“Yes, I made mistakes - I got sent off three times in the last seven or eight games. I did contribute to us getting relegated out of the Football League for the first time. But there were a lot more problems underneath to it all than what were shown.

“If anyone knew what I was doing as a young captain on a day to day basis, trying to keep that club in the Football League... it was unbelievable the responsibility I had.

“It would be like Mason Bennett (at Derby) being captain, not having an owner or manager and making decisions on where to train, what food to have, what team to pick, should we stay overnight or travel - I was too young for that responsbility.”

In the summer of 2008 Haslam sold the club to new owners - Andy Perry, Andy Saunders and Steve Middleton - who Buxton said told him he could leave if he terminated his contract.

With two weeks remaining before the start of the new season in the Conference he left after more than 150 appearances in the amber and blue.

Buxton recalled: “I wanted to get out. I was done. I was hurt and really hurting with what was happening at Mansfield.

“The three lads, ‘The Three Amigos’, who took over did not show me any respect whatsoever. It was good for both parties, a change, so I went looking for a club.”

However, after a two-week trial at Crewe, Buxton was rejected and he remembered that he was in tears on his way home, thinking that he was 23, had a mortgage and other commitments and “how has it all gone wrong”.

But then he got a phone call from Nigel Clough asking him to go to Burton Albion - also in the Conference. Initially he did not want to move into non-league, but he admitted “it was the best move of my career.”

The following season Burton won promotion to the Football League and, on the back of that, the defender earned a dream move into the Championship with Derby, for whom he went on to make 139 appearances.

Delivered skips and worked as a builder as a young pro

Jake Buxton was never a stranger to hard work - and has remained a grounded footballer in an era of players earning fortunes.

In the interview with Rams TV he revealed how he used to supplement his Mansfield Town salary in the early days by working elsewhere.

“When you got to be a pro (at Mansfield) you had a bit of spare time on your hands and I was always looking to make a few quid. So I did everything from spraying cars to repairing bumps and scuffs,” he said.

“Then I worked with my father-in-law delivering skips — even on days I was training — then I did a bit of building work.

“In the early days at Mansfield when I was in and out of the side I tried to top up my wages. For my first contract as a pro at Mansfield I was probably on £90 a week, so as a young pro you want to better yourself.

“My father worked down a pit and at Network Rail, grafting all his life. It was in bred into us, from my mum’s side as well who all worked down the pit.

“Even now I still do work at home... I wouldn’t think to have a gardener! I still do a bit of building work (at home).”