WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

We catch up with Mansfield Town’s 2001-02 promotion side

BILLY DEARDEN took Mansfield Town from a team in the middle of the fourth tier to promotion contenders in the space of two seasons on a tight budget.

Dearden put his faith in a crop of youngsters with a couple of experienced players thrown into the mix.

But without a proper training ground and a shoestring budget, he decided that he had had enough and left for Notts County midway through the promotion campaign after giving Premier League Leicester City a scare in the FA Cup.

Central defender Stuart Reddington recalled: “Billy came into the dressing room after the game (a 2-1 away defeat) and told us that he was leaving. The club wasn’t looking after him, and he has been offered a better deal at Notts County. But he was the catalyst for promotion.

“We had a good crop of young players out of the youth team who Stuart Watkiss (who took over from Dearden) had brought through. The likes of Liam Lawrence, Lee Williamson and Craig Disley had energy and quality.

“There was nothing scientific about it. We played a bog-standard 4-4-2 with energy from the full-backs and wingers.”

The goals for promotion were supplied by Chris Greenacre, who netted 28 that season, with 21 of them coming in the league. Nobody else reached double figures.

“Chris was relatively young, a similar age to me, he came from Man City,” he said. “He was razor-sharp. He was the primary contributor in the goals for column. Liam (Lawrence) went on to have a right good career flying up the right wing.

“And we had an older guy, Wayne Corden, who had a pretty good lower league career. He was flying down the left wing with Chris knocking them in.”

With Plymouth and Luton streets clear at the top, the battle was on for third place. It looked as though the Stags might have blown it with Easter defeats to Rushden & Diamonds (1-4) and then at Luton (3-5).

But they recovered by winning two of the next three. It meant they needed a win on the final day against Carlisle and for rivals Cheltenham to lose at champions Plymouth.

Reddington, however, was forced to watch the action unfold after being dropped following a 3-1 defeat at York in the penultimate game.

In the event, Mansfield beat Carlisle 2-0, while Cheltenham lost by the same score.

“I had a stinker at York and Stuart dropped me for the last game. There was disappointment at not playing, but I was excited that the lads did the job, in a really dull and tense game which saw us get promoted.” 1. John Andrews: Left-back returned to his native Ireland to become a fitness trainer before going into coaching. Is now living in Iceland where he is Vikingur women’s head coach.

2. Adam Barrett: Central defender who won three promotions with Southend before becoming a coach. Is now the first-team coach at Millwall.

3. Andy White: Striker, who, after working on a production line, became a health trainer and is now a public health practitioner for Nottinghamshire County Council. 4. Michael Bingham: England schoolboy international goalkeeper who only made two Football League appearances. Is still living in Mansfield.

5. Kevin Pilkington: Goalkeeper who started out at Manchester United and had a lengthy playing career. Now living in Lincolnshire and is Barnsley’s goalkeeper coach.

6. Stuart Hicks: Defender who was a play-off finalist with three clubs: Scunthorpe, Preston, and Leyton Orient. Is managing director of Mainline Menswear.

7. Stuart Reddington: Central defender is now head of sport and service sector at Lincoln College and is also the first-team coach at Lincoln United.

8. Jamie Lomas: Midfielder whose career was ended by a serious knee injury suffered against former club Chesterfield. Has been employed at a woodcutters yard in Tideswell. 9. Barry Statham: Served Mans- field as physio for nine years and has also been a college lecturer and worked in private practice. 10. Neil Richardson: Has scouted for Tottenham, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest and works as a PE instructor for Lincolnshire County Council.

11. Martin Pemberton: Leftback, a former fitness coach and school behaviour mentor. Is now a successful freelance life and wellness coach.

12. Bobby Hassell: Defender played for Barnsley in an FA Cup semi-final and is now academy manager at Oakwell after returning to the club as academy recruitment chief.

13. Michael Sisson: A local midfielder whose career suffered following a serious knee injury. Is still living in Mansfield and runs a dry lining company, Dramas.

14. Liam Lawrence: Republic of Ireland winger won a Championship title with Sunderland. Has been a pundit and is now working full-time in Stoke’s academy.

15. Shayne Bradley: Forward worked for British Waterways, Eon and Npower and is now running a facilities management firm in Gloucestershire.

16. Wayne Corden: Attacking midfielder won promotions with Scunthorpe and Leyton Orient. Lives in home town Leek and is a school teacher.

17. Lee Williamson: Jamaican international midfielder has coached at Belper Town and runs a football academy in his home town, Derby.

18. Ali Asher: The Leicester-born defender ran a printing solution firm and is now a Nottinghambased gas engineer.

19. Ivan Hollett: Worked in the mining industry before returning to Mansfield in a youth role and worked as an area sales rep for a Northampton metals company. 20. Stuart Watkiss: Has worked abroad for the last seven years. Is the Bangladesh national football team’s current assistant head coach.

21. Lee Williams: Midfielder who had to retire with an eye injury. Is based in the Black Country and has been Rushall Olympic’s assistant manager.

22. Danny Bacon: England C international striker played in an FA Trophy final. Works for Integrated Doorset Solutions in Mansfield. 23. Les Robinson: Defender who made over 400 appearances for Oxford. Is now assistant head and PE teacher at Swalcliffe Park School in Banbury.

24. Billy Dearden: The manager later had a second spell in charge at Field Mill before scouting for several clubs.

25. Keith Haslam: The controversial former owner and chairman has had a property company.

26. Chris Greenacre: Striker settled in New Zealand, where he has been coaching at Wellington Phoenix since retiring nine years ago.

27. Craig Disley: Midfielder is now living in Market Rasen and has coached in the Grimsby Town centre of excellence.

28. David Jervis: Defender who had a spell as Mansfield’s youth coach. Is the managing director of football trials firm Premier Football UK.