Away On Saturday: When Bristol Rovers got relegated...

Bristol Rovers 0-1 Mansfield Town
Sky Bet League Two
Saturday 3rd May 2014

Ever heard the story about the time when a football club got relegated after losing to opponents who'd forgot to bring their own kit to play in?

This is another bizarre tale from my time at Mansfield Town.

In 2013/14, we were safe from relegation with a few weeks to spare with a record of Won 14, Drew 15, Lost 16 and by the final day, we couldn't get promoted either. The previous week we'd been walloped by a Torquay side who'd already been relegated - the players were in holiday mode and couldn't wait to be on the beach somewhere. We just had to fulfil the final few fixtures.

For Bristol Rovers, meanwhile, this was a massive final game.

They began the day in 22nd position (and, crucially, just outside the drop zone) having beaten relegation rivals Wycombe, the previous week. They had a three-point cushion on Wycombe and knew that to guarantee safety they only had to avoid a defeat to us. Simple, right?

As it transpired, Wanderers cruised to an easy win at Torquay and their result was never in doubt because they were a couple of goals up from very early on. Consequentially, it meant the pressure was substantially cranked up on the Gasheads to get the result they needed.

When we arrived at the Memorial Stadium, it was glorious weather; boiling hot sunshine and it was a carnivalesque atmosphere with a band playing on steel drums and hot food stalls just outside the ground. There were dozens of balloons around which had already been filled up - presumably for the party afterwards!

Clearly, whoever had authorised this b*llocks, thought it was going to be a stroll and Bristol Rovers couldn't possibly be relegated. Knowing our preparation had been crap - with players actually rejecting the chance of an overnight stay and knowing a few youth teamers would be involved for us, I'd have even tended to agree.

A home win was what I expected and it was hard to see anything but that happening.

However, the script didn't go to plan and, just like earlier the same afternoon when Paul Caddis struck in injury-time to save Birmingham from relegation to League One, it was an 'edge of your seat' type game that was bizarre and unpredictable.

The worst thing was that somehow our kit man forgot to bring the kit! I don't know how. He had one job, but the kit never made it to the team coach - and thus we had to go begging to Bristol Rovers to wear their away kit instead.

Remarkably, it wasn't the first time the same kit man had forgotten the kit that season as he left it behind for the away game at Torquay, only for a friend of one of the directors to rush it down the motorway in a race against time before kick-off.

Other than the kit fiasco, what I remember most about this day is the umpteen renditions of 'Goodnight Irene' which were passionately belted out on several occasions. It was a sell-out crowd and you could sense the expectancy amongst the home fans.

Despite Wycombe's good start in Devon, there was still a party-like atmosphere inside the Memorial Stadium and Bristol Rovers - with Tom Lockyer, Mark McChrystal, Kaid Mohamed, John O'Toole and some other respectable names for League Two level, got on top in the early stages. In all honesty, I thought it'd just be a matter of time until they broke the deadlock and, thereafter, it'd be a routine home win. Instead, Junior Daniel (now at Burton Albion) scored, completely against the run of play, just before half-time and the mood changed in an instant. It became edgy. It became quiet around the press box. It became tense. Everyone knew fine well that if things stayed as they were, the Gasheads were going down!

Nonetheless, even at this point and during discussions at half-time (during which there were more renditions of 'Goodnight Irene' and passionate 'pump up the crowd' type emotive pleas from the PA announcer), nobody expected Bristol Rovers to get relegated.

And, in any case, our players still looked like cheeky b*stards by wearing their kit and having the audacity to have somehow gone 1-0 up!

The second half DID follow the script as it proved to be a case of relentless pressure with loads of opportunities and Bristol Rovers dominated. We were forced back, they had set-piece after set-piece, put in cross after cross, someone hit the bar with a header and then O'Toole flashed an effort narrowly wide. Lewis Price, our 'keeper on loan from Crystal Palace, made two or three outstanding saves as well - the sort of saves which made you think 'we might just win this'. It was relentless pressure but the minutes were ticking down. Frustration was growing, nerves were frayed and with about 10 minutes to go, I swapped my 'amber and blue' tie for a 'blue and white' one in the press box - sensing that I might have my face redecorated, if the worst came to the worst.

The balloons at the back of the stand now looked absolutely stupid!

McChrystal then lashed a thunderous drive against the crossbar with about five minutes remaining in yet another attack which didn't bare fruit and, by now, it was dawning on everyone that this was serious sh*t and it wasn't going to be Rovers' day. To sum up the mood, some bloke turned round and started punching the wooden press box several times. I was glad I'd taken the tie off!

Strangely, though we'd been under pressure for the entire second period, we kept the ball brilliantly during the three or four minutes of injury-time. We stifled things, they couldn't get anywhere near us and Sam Clucas was winding them up.

The final whistle was met by silence. People were stunned. It was quiet. It was flat for a good 30 seconds. Disbelief, despair and shock then slowly turned into anger as our players trudged off and the pitch was soon filled with invaders - many of whom went straight for our fans whilst the others vented their fury towards the directors box.

It was the polar opposite of everything before the game. It was madness!

The police and stewards did a brilliant job of 'just about' keeping fans apart before the cavalry (quite literally) arrived and mounted police cleared the pitch. These shenanigans went on for a good 20-30 minutes afterwards and fans, very slowly, dwindled outside - though most sat in despair with their head in their hands for a good while.

As the bus we'd travelled down in had 'Mansfield Town FC' plastered on the side of it (absolutely brilliant if you want to discreetly escape), we received a police escort to the motorway to get us the hell out of the place as quickly as possible. We had plenty of 'eye balls' from fans who were roadside as we passed, whilst one or two d*ck heads at the ground behaved like idiots; including some tosser who wanted to stand infront of the bus to stop us leaving in a protest of some sort.

It was a fun day and I've not been back to the Memorial Stadium since, but Bristol Rovers escaped the Conference Premier by winning promotion at the first attempt, the following season.

Away shirt sales might have nosedived in the summer of 2014 for them, however, as a result of our kit man's f**k up!