Mansfield Town owner Carolyn Radford has confirmed the club’s aims to develop their Bishop Street Stand but face difficulty due to infrastructural issues.
The Stags have started their League Two campaign in excellent fashion and are the only team yet to face defeat in League Two – also reaching the last sixteen of the Carabao Cup after causing upsets against Sheffield Wednesday and Peterborough United.
Nigel Clough is in his third full season in charge of the Stags and will be hoping to seal automatic promotion after missing out in previous seasons.
Following on from this impressive start, Mansfield Town chairman John Radford has heavily praised Clough and his team [quotes via Ashfield Chad]:
“It’s been an excellent start to the season.
“We have been a bit unfortunate with injuries, but the way Nigel has got the team set up is good football to watch.
“Our defence is quite strong this season. We just need to get a few more goals.
“It is the way the side builds from the back that makes it so attractive. Our possession is fantastic and some of the goals we have scored have been beautiful and have come from all over the park.
“I hope this can be our year, Nigel knows we are after a top-three finish, we don’t want to go to Wembley,” he continued.
“We can’t moan about the type of football we are playing at the moment. It is exciting and it is good to watch.
“We know there will be blips on the way, that is why football is so exciting, but I would like a top-three finish.
“We have started well and have sound foundations, hopefully that continues.”
Mansfield have been well-backed by their supporters this season, with gates in excess of 7,000. This has raised questions about raising the capacity of their home stadium.
The One Call Stadium has had its fourth stand, the Bishop Street Stand, condemned prior to 2006 due to safety issues. However, fellow owner Carolyn Radford has confirmed plans to redevelop the derelict stand.
Speaking to BBC Radio Nottingham’s Matchday, Radford said:
“We need to do something about the Bishop Street Stand, but the problem is there is a lot of infrastructure issues so we are hoping that the council will be easy to work with for access and things like that.
“It’s not just about opening your wallet and building a stand. Hopefully, the town can work with us so we can make something that will be safe and incredible.”
Writer’s View
It is extremely positive and progressive to see a chair want to progress the infrastructure off the pitch to complement the club’s positives on the field.
With high crowd turnovers, it would be a great time to capitalise by re-opening the Bishop Street Stand as Mansfield move forward as a football club.
