The team in its current form was founded in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans. They became known as Mansfield Wesley in 1906 and finally became Mansfield Town in 1910, entering the Notts and District League.
The Stags initially had problems gaining entry to the Football League. Their FA Cup run of 1928/29 saw them beat League sides Barrow and Wolves. They bowed out to Arsenal in round four, but they gained enough publicity from the run to earn themselves a place in the League. They took Newport County's place in Division Three (South) for the start of the 1931/32 season.
After World War Two, Mansfield saw a dramatic increase in attendances at Field Mill. Buoyed by their new support, they reached the fifth round of the FA Cup in 1950/51 and were also runners-up in Division Three (South).
Two years later, a record crowd of 24,467 gathered at Field Mill to watch the Stags lose to Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup third round.
The club were relegated to Division Four in 1960 along with Wrexham and Accrington Stanley but they bounced back three years later. They finished fourth, ahead of Gillingham on goal average and it was enough to take them back to Division Three.
Mansfield reached the Quarter-Finals of the FA Cup in 1969, defeating the famous West Ham side including Moore, Peters and Hurst on their way.
In 1972, the Stags were relegated back to the basement division after winning only eight of their 46 matches. At the end of their third year back in Division Four, they were celebrating their first Championship triumph. They won the league by six points and wrapped up the title with an emphatic 7-0 thrashing of Scunthorpe in front of over 11,000 at Field Mill.
Two years later they were celebrating again, this time the Division Three title meant that Second Division football would be held at Field Mill for the first time. They only lasted for one year at the higher level, but there were some memorable matches along the way. Glenn Hoddle lobbed a dramatic late leveller to earn Spurs a 3-3 draw against the Stags.
Since their brief adventure in the late seventies, Mansfield have remained in the bottom two divisions. They won the Freight Rover Trophy (Associate Members' Cup) in 1987, beating Bristol City at Wembley in the final.
Seven years later, former Everton forward Andy King inspired the Stags to a 1-0 aggregate victory over Leeds United in the League Cup.