History of Mansfield Town F.C.
Mansfield Town was founded in 1897 under the name of Mansfield Wesleyans. Like many football clubs, their name derives from a local church, in this case the Wesleyan church on Bridge Street. Playing in Chocolate and Sky Blue shirts, with Royal Blue shorts and socks, the club played in friendly matches and local cup ties. Its first game was on 4 September 1897, drawing 2–2 against Sherwood Foresters. Mansfield first joined a league in the 1902–03 season, competing in the Mansfield and District Amateur League. 6 September 1902 saw the Wesleyans lose their first league fixture 1-0 away at Mansfield Corinthians. A week later, Shirebrook Swifts put 13 past the Mansfield goalkeeper without reply, the worst defeat ever suffered by the club in a competitive match. The team ended its first season in 7th place (of 12).
History of Mansfield Town F.C.
Tow Law Town, who had surprised Mansfield 5–1 the previous year, were dispatched in Round 1. Rotherham were beaten after a replay, and Sheffield United were defeated 2–1. Mansfield came from behind to beat Southend in the Fourth Round, leading to a match with West Ham United. Incredibly, Mansfield won 3–0. West Ham were standing sixth in the First Division and their side featured England's World Cup winners Bobby Moore, Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst along with youngsters Billy Bonds and Trevor Brooking. The game was postponed five times before it finally went ahead on Wednesday 26 February 1969 in front of 21,117 at Field Mill. Mansfield became only the fourth team in club history to knock out clubs from five different leagues in the same competition. They progressed to the quarter final stage where they were unlucky to lose to Leicester City, being stopped from scoring by young keeper Peter Shilton.