WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
We catch up with Mansfield Town’s 1974-75 Division Four winners
RAY CLARKE rolled the dice when he dropped down a division to join the Stags, who were about to embark on a golden spell in the club’s history.
Clarke had been a prolific goalscorer in Tottenham’s youth and reserve teams and moved to Field Mill after spending a season with Swindon Town, scoring only twice in 14 appearances.
Even in his wildest dreams he couldn’t have dreamt what was about to happen, with 28 goals in his first season.
And then, after bagging 24 in his second campaign, he left for Sparta Rotterdam and Ajax, where he is still a cult hero.
Clarke believes that moving to Mansfield was the best thing he ever did in his career, before it was cut short by a knee injury.
“Sometimes you have to take a step back to move two steps forwards,” he said.
“Dave Smith went there at the end of the previous season and I think he only bought three players – Doug O’Connor, myself and Gordon Hodgson.
“I joined them three days before the season started because I was at Swindon at the time. I was part of the deal for Danny Williams going from Mansfield to Swindon. I signed on the Tuesday or Wednesday, and played on the Saturday, and we managed to beat Southport 2-1 in the first game.
“The next week, we went to Scunthorpe and I scored the only goal. From there, I scored for fun. I don’t know why. It could have been confidence, I think I went on a run of scoring 18 goals in the next 20 games.”
The Stags hit top spot after winning their first three games, before dropping to a season’s low of sixth after drawing three of their next four.
Romp
They soon returned to winning ways and never looked back, romping home to the title by finishing six points ahead of runners-up Shrewsbury Town.
Two seasons later, despite Clarke moving to Holland, the club won the Third Division title for the first time.
Clarke cannot speak highly enough of Smith, who, he says, wasn’t scared to give his players a tongue-lashing when it was required or even an arm around the shoulder.
“Dave might have had his little quirks, but he was fantastic for me. He gave me an opportunity,” he said.
“He was the type of guy who would put his arm around you on a Monday and say you were great on Saturday.
“I remember we played up at Southport. He came into the dining room and asked me what was wrong. I said ‘We have been here an hour, boss, waiting for something to eat’.
“He said ‘You know how I feel now when you don’t score for five games’, but that is what he was like.
“I know certain people never got on with him and it caused his demise.
“But when you look at the side we had, it just clicked.
“It was just one of those things. We all complemented one another, but he kept us on our toes.
“We lost 3-2 at Stockport and then 2-1 at Hartlepool. Both times we were in a position to win the games.
“He didn’t mince his words, and you either accepted it or you sulked about it.
“We were the type of team where it made us better. We went out more determined.
“If you look at the results, we beat the teams around us. We beat Shrewsbury twice. We were eager to play and eager to win. We felt we could do anything – and we did.”
1. John Haselden: A former Mansfield loanee who worked as a physio for both Nottingham sides until his retirement in 2008.
2. Paul Matthews: A midfielder who won a Second Division title with Leicester City. He has worked as a sales rep and purchasing manager before running his own catering business. 3. Colin Foster: Central defender who won two promotions with Mansfield before settling in Peterborough, where he became a painter and decorator. 4. Terry Eccles: A forward who won two promotions with the Stags. He ran a pub near York, he’s been a rep for a chemical firm and scouted for Southampton before retiring to Mojacar, Spain. 5. Garry Scothorn: A goalkeeper, who ran his own off-licence before moving to London, working as a croupier. Now a property developer in his native Hoyland, near Barnsley. 6. Rod Arnold: A goalkeeper who made more than 500 appearances for Mansfield and then coached at Hull City and Hull College. He has also worked in hospitality for the Tigers. 7. Micky Laverick: A midfielder who later won promotions with Southend and Huddersfield. Lives in Nottinghamshire and became a long-serving prison officer at HMP Ranby. 8. Kevin Bird: A central defender who played 450 league games for Mansfield and worked in a warehouse for Tesco. 9. Jim McCaffrey: A winger who won two promotions with the Stags. He became a newsagent in the Lake District and then in Leicester. 10. Clive Walker: Left-back who played for Leicester in the League Cup final. He twice managed Northampton Town and has run coaching schools in the UK and the United States. 11. Doug O’Connor: A forward who has been a youth coach at Barnsley and worked for Rentokil. He is now head of club operations at Shaw Lane FC. 12. John Lathan: A midfielder who was relegated five times. He has coached in Australia, South Africa and then in the United States. 13. Sandy Pate: A right-back who made 366 consecutive appearances for Mansfield, where he later ran pubs before taking on a management role at Rainworth Miners Welfare until retiring. 14. Dave Smith: The manager who took Southend United and Plymouth Argyle to promotions. He still lives in the Plymouth area and ran his own soccer school for many years. 15. Gordon Hodgson: Midfielder who was club captain. He became a policeman on retiring but died in Peterborough in 1999 aged just 46. 16. Barry Foster: Left-back who won two promotions with the Stags. He went into the family market trading business in Doncaster. 17. Ray Clarke: A forward who won an Eredivisie title at Ajax and ran a hotel on the Isle of Man. He has scouted for a number of clubs and been technical director of Omonia Nicosia.