Archived News from October 2005
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STAGSNET`S STATISTICAL PREVIEW
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Will Millwall be the third consecutive Championship side to succumb to the Stags in a League Cup fixture at Field Mill this season? It remains to be seen as the teams on Tuesday for the first time in eleven years exactly to the day clash in the third round. The previous victims have been Stoke aet and penalties in the first round and Southampton to a 1-0 scoreline in the second. But in 1994-95, the Stags had famously kayoed then Premiership side Leeds 1-0 on aggregate over two legs by heading home the only goal of the game at Elland Road in the first leg of the second round. The hero then: Simon Ireland. But on October 25, 1994, the Stags were knocked out by Millwall to a 2-0 scoreline in front of 5359 who saw Cadette and Kennedy hit the net for the Lions, who eventually were knocked out by Swindon in the fifth round.
But Millwall are best known as the first-ever Third Division side to reach the FA Cup semifinals. They did so in 1936-37 when they lost to Sunderland in a replay. But the Lions got their revenge on Sunderland in the 2003-04 semifinals by netting the only goal of the game. The reward was an FA Cup final against Manchester United, which was lost 3-0. In the league, the sides have played in the same division on eight occasions. The first one was the campaign after Millwall's first FA Cup semi-final appearance, 1937-38. That season, the Lions won the Third Division (South), one point ahead of Bristol City while the Stags finished in 14th position. But even then, Millwall failed to win at Field Mill, as the first-ever league fixture ended all square to a 1-1 scoreline with Horne netting one of his six league goals that season. The attendance was 8400. But the return fixture at The Den was lost by the only goal of the game on March 19, 1937 in front of – 29253! These results proved to be pointers for forthcoming league fixtures, the last ones being in 1979-80 in the old third division. At Field Mill, most league games have been drawn while at Millwall, the Stags have only won once and drawn once as well. But Millwall have NEVER won a league game at Field Mill! Two of the three Stags wins against Millwall have been convincing ones. The first on April 1, 1961, when Stringfellow and Coates scored two apiece and Wragg once in front of 4575. The second was on the final day of the 1963-64 season. Mansfield were unbeaten at home while Millwall fought against relegation. On April 25, 1964, Wagstaff scored twice and Roy Chapman once, the fourth was an own goal in a 4-1 win. But Millwall's fate – relegation – was sealed a few days later, when Barnsley drew 2-2 at QPR, thus getting the point the Tykes needed to avoid the drop. The third Stags home win was secured in the up-to-date latest league clash between the sides. On March 1, 1980, Austin netted from the spot to secure a vital Stags win in their fight against relegation. And in that same season, the Stags, picked up a rare point at Millwall by drawing 2-2 on October 20, 1979 with Lathan and Austin scoring for Mansfield. The Stags' so far only win at Millwall was secured on October 19, 1963, when a Roy Chapman strike was enough in front of 8348. And in three Millwall promotion seasons, 1937-38, 1961-62 and 1965-66 respectively, all the Lions could manage at Field Mill were draws, the last of them being a 1-1 on April 25, 1966 when Scanlon scored for the Stags. The sides also clashed in the Stags' only season at the second level. The game at Field Mill on September 10, 1977 was the ONLY goal-less league game all season for the Stags. The return fixture at the Den was first postponed due to bad weather – then re-arranged for early April. By that time, the Millwall ground was closed for two games due to crowd trouble during an FA Cup QF at home to Ipswich. The first of those games was against Bristol Rovers, played at Portsmouth on April 1, 1978. The second one was to be against the Stags a few days later. Somehow, Millwall managed to halve the ban to one game. And eventually, the game against the Stags was to be their last one on the second level in 1977-78. On May 2, 1978, Seasman scored the goal that kept the Lions up, in the end at the expense of Blackpool, while the Stags at that time already were relegated along with Hull. Played for both sides: Philip Barber, Robbie Cooke, Lawrie Madden, Joe Readman (the player who scored the Stags' first-ever league goal!), Pat Sharkey, Alan Walker. The late Ray Harford, who played for the Stags, was coach at Millwall. Stats file: Home: P 8, W 3, D 5, L 0, GF 13, GA 5 Away: P 8, W 1, D 1, L 6. GF 3, GA 14 Season Home Date Away Date 1937-38 1-1 1937-11-06 0-1 1938-03-19 Division 3 (S) 1960-61 5-1 1961-04-01 0-3 1960-11-12 Div 4 (old) 1961-62 0-0 1961-10-16 0-4 1961-10-02 Div 4 (old) 1963-64 4-1 1964-04-25 1-0 1963-10-19 Div 3 (old) 1965-66 1-1 1966-04-25 0-2 1966-05-16 Div 3 (old) 1975-76 1-1 1976-03-08 0-1 1975-10-04 Div 3 (old) 1977-78 0-0 1977-09-10 0-1 1978-05-02 Div 2 (old) 1979-80 1-0 1980-03-01 2-2 1979-10-20 Div 3 (old) Cup games: 1994-95 0-2 1994-10-25 (League Cup 3rd round at Field Mill) Details from various sources, i.e. the history CD, Rothman's Football Yearbook (1977-78 season), the centenary book Svante Bernhard aka Sweden Stag (pictured, above right) |
Latest | October 2005