It's been a while...

So, it's been around six months since my last post, so first of all I'd like to apologise to the faithful readers of the Casual Saturdays blog.
What with a house move and me being a general lazy cunt, I just haven't had the time but that's by the by.

So what have we missed...

Well this fucker to start with !!!!

That's right Chesterfield 0 - 1 Mansfield, Get that down you, you spireite bastards.
Calvin Andrew recently released by Mansfield, will forever remain in our hearts as a true hero for one simple fact, It was his goal that put the sheep shagging, six toed, Derbyshire cretins in their rightful place.

Off the pitch it was the usual case....

The usual early doors Mansfield invasion of chesterfield. No coaches or trains but a well orchestrated show of power, numbers and superiority of our neighbouring cattle bothering no-marks.
As always, the spoil sports were out in force to stop the majority of the festivities the day could have given, that's not to say a couple of the mouthy hillbillys didn't get a clip around the tab.
Obviously, with a number of Spireite "lads" getting banned for...well, for jumping around and shouting it seems (just goes to show, if you're getting banned for shouting there can't be much action in your town) we can't go in to much more detail as a few of our finest are still laying low.

Oh and for those interested - our "friend" clad in orange, and main mouthpiece of chesterfield - got both twatted and banned for his part. Haha... Bet his old man wishes his mum swallowed the twat.

Needless to say; point proven, MSE 1- 0 CBS

Since then, however, things have gone a little south for the team with a string of defeats leaving them teetering just above the relegation zone - things are getting a bit nerve racking for us Stags.

And now with the appointment of the Broughtons/Lakin's little Gestapo army, it's making it increasingly difficult for the lads of the QLE especially, to get behind the boys.

                                                        


The unfair treatment, bans and threats however MUST NOT stop us getting to the games, The boys in yellow and blue need our support more than ever at the minute and with only nine games remaining in our first season back in the league, lets make sure the atmosphere doesn't die - no matter how hard the bastards try to grind us down!

JUSTICE FOR THE BANNED!

A quick catch up of the last few months.

On the pitch absolutely fuck all to report as we didn't win for around three months.
Paul Cox - football genius......





Off the pitch, the casual scene has also gone a little bit stale minus a few near misses and minor scraps with the likes of Hartlepool and Oxford travelling to the Midlands.

I have to give it to Hartlepool mind, as we've always known they have a game set of lads and made the journey south with small numbers. Upon arrival to a local haunt of the MSE it didn't take long for the young upstarts from this casual haven to find out where they were, and they did what they do best; take it straight to them!

Around thirty late teen - mid twenty somethings clad in their finery were banging at the doors before the northern monkeys could get half way down their first pint, with a few punches thrown, and Mansfield on the front foot, old bill thought it only best to get involved - sticks raised and split the two groups apart.

Fair play to the Mansfield youth, as these were no young lads, but they held their own and not one took a backwards step . PROGRESSION!


Oxford, on the other hand turned out to be an old school love in with old alliances reunited,
after a few crossed wires at the beggining of the day and the youth heading in to another local Mansfield watering hole with only one thing on their minds, things were soon set straight.
Old England allegiances still stand between old heads and on this day the young Mansfield Casuals respected the truce.
In what turned out to be a blinder of a day knocking back the sauce and reminiscing about the scene.


 


Fair play to these lads, genuine football casuals who know the score, respect to the older South Midlands Hit Squad.



Another very notable day for various reasons.

Fleetwood away

As the youth again set off early doors on a seaside adventure, contact is made with quite possibly one of the poorest excuses of a firm they have come across on their travels.
"go here, go there"
As the young set hunted down the supposed fleetwood mob, it would seem that, like Lord Lucan they are prone to disappearing - until that is - Old bill have the youth in an escort and then the gobs on the tracksuit bottom wearing scrotes soon open.

Shame on you Fleetwood... Shame on you.

Special shout-out to a lad we will refer to as 'Pat', as - like the Fleetwood firm - he also likes to do a David Blaine-esque disappearing act....
Think he might have learned his lesson mind, as a night sleeping in Manchester train station and a £160 taxi home from Stockport the next morning probably sobered him up?
Well you'd think so... But those who know him know he hasn't changed a bit, haha.



So other than the football, the boys from Casual Saturdays have released a book that can be purchased at no fucking book shops as we did it all by ourselves, If you haven't got one yet and you enjoy the blog, I'd suggest buying one!

Just pop yourselves over to our website!

http://itkfanzine.webs.com/






Well that's all I can be arsed to write tonight,

But make sure you're back for tomorrow nights blog and the tale of ....

A visit to the catherdral

"Whoever's up for it today get off the bus now!"

As the sun was rising in Mansfield, another away day loomed -York city away.
Two separate buses setting off at separate times from different locations in order to gain access to the city centre.

Here lie the accounts from the two sets on this albeit non violent (not for lack of trying) yet very eventful day.

09:00am Order of the day;
-Breakfast
-Beer
-Invasion

As per, the young up and comers of Mansfield are out in force dressed in their finery.
With a lot of talk from the minster men this week about our upcoming fixture the young guns were relishing the chance to head out on their own and get a result.
So with good numbers, they met early doors to sample a few of the towns finest slurps and they set sail north to see what the York Nomad Society had to offer.



"The lights turned red, so I put the call out, whoever wants it today, off the bus now!"
The bus emptied of 30 of Mansfield's finest young casuals,
Now these boys weren't just happy on setting up in one pub and getting rounded up by Old Bill.
Like dogs unleashed they searched for the YNS pub after pub but no sign of York,
The comments of an "easy day" made by the newly named "York No Show Society" had certainly got the backs up of more than a few of these young delinquents.
More pubs were searched, refusing to serve the young set as when they entered every establishment the mood suddenly changed - the people of York certainly knew they were there, even if the No Show Society weren't happy to make an appearance.


After a while, the hunt got boring, the message boards went quiet and with no word from York, the lads  -untouched by the police - headed to the Burton stone for a few of York's finest beverages, the young guns can certainly count this as a small victory.
Went in undetected. Took the piss. Came out unscathed.
Needless to say, I expect the YNS excuses to be rife and to be believed, about as much as Liverpool fans think they're going to win the premiership this season.





And as for the other bus you may ask ....

"Walked straight into the home end, lasted about three minutes, apparently not paying is frowned upon?"
Again another early meet, in fact very fucking early, the kind of early drinking George Best would have been proud of.
This mixed bunch of old and young ne'er-do-wells from Mansfield's surrounding areas didn't have the luck of going in undetected and were rounded up pretty much as soon as their feet touched the ground in York.
That's not to say they didn't have a good time of it.

Setting off early and getting put in a pub meant the lads had plenty of time to put away a few gallons of York's finest ales, Well lubricated and many without tickets, the lads had hatched a plan to get amongst the locals and head for the home stand.
In threes and fours they drifted in until north Yorkshire police got wise and swiftly moved in to escort them out, with no tickets it was back to the pub for more debauched fun and games.

Not wanting to head straight home, Barnsley was the destination, and again, although no action to speak of, the boys made it count, and relieved one kind landlord of a number of his beers for no charge, such a nice fella.

Back on their travels and one last piss stop in store, could their luck be in?
Two buses of Arsenal travelling back from Sunderland, the lads quickly on their toes went to greet our southern friends with many a friendly gesture on their way in...... as you can well imagine.

Only the lads who rushed over soon returned rather embarrassed as this was the special supporters bus from London....

I imagine a few felt like this young chap on the left.

Match report.



With the Mansfield team bus being held up on the M1 and the boys in yellow and blue arriving later than planned, our slow start was maybe to be expected.
Conceding in the third minute, however, probably was not in Mr Cox's plans.

Soon after, however, normal service resumed and as we have so many times taken control of the game and started playing our kind of football, An uncharacteristic burst into the box from James Jennings won the penalty which the ginger wizard kindly stepped up to, and despatched with the venom of a heat seeking missile into the back of the York city goalkeepers net.



This sending the travelling Mansfield fans into raptures, the constant beat of the drum and song after song really got the team going and we continued the pressure.

At the half, Coxy made what turned out to be a tactical master stroke, bringing on Lindon Meikle and Oliver Palmer who both contributed to our decisive winning goal.

The second half started equally with both teams pushing for the the advantage and it was Mansfield who struck.
Some great link up play from Meikle and Clucas gave the Chesney Battersby (or whatever he's now called ) look-a-like an opportunity to fire in another left footed rocket which was met by Ollie Palmer who deftly flicked the ball past the out stretched York keeper. His words were "I definitely meant to do it.."

Whether he meant it or not, who cares? A winning goal is a winning goal, and he's a centre forward so of course he's going to claim it.

All that remained of the game was the biggest off in York that day between Martin Riley and some cretin trying to have a pop, not bitter at all then....
Anyway this resulted in two red cards and Mr Riley being banned for the game against the Spireite bastards.

Other news.




Came across this on twitter today, Mr Cox has been keeping an eye on Greeny and hoping for a loan return, with our recent form and a proven goalscorer up top, this season could turn out to be a dramatic one,
Is it to soon to say the 'P' word?
...Unbeaten in 6, lets keep it that way.


Keep it casual

 MSE

Old heads corner

                 


*Please note all names have been changed to protect the identities of old boys in this post.

The year was 2001, Atomic kitten topped the pop charts, The UK and United states were busy bombing Baghdad, and Stuart Pearce playing for West Ham United was named February's player of the month when a group of, now older and wiser Casuals from Mansfield, piled in the back of a hired transit van and made their way north to Hartlepool.

As the February snow had set in up north a small number of what I will now call "more experienced" casuals made their merry way up the A1 to Hartlepool to see what the infamous blue division had to offer.
With beer crates as make shift seats and dressed to thrill looking for a night out in Mansfield on their return,
Would wearing loafers be a wise decision in these near Arctic conditions?

The small Mansfield set managed to go in under the radar and set up camp in one of the monkey hangers main pubs, with no sign of the Blue order, was this a small victory for Mansfield to be in Hartlepool town centre unscathed and unopposed?

The game passed by resulting in a 1-1 draw with ex stag Tony Lormor stealing a late point for the home side.

Spirits weren't dampened by the result as the lads still had a night out in Limo's to get back to, cheap beer and even cheaper women.

One major problem - word had gotten out that the MSE had travelled north, and this was not taken lightly by the local hordes.

The rented transit van was parked in a car park surrounded by northern monkeys looking for some action, An agreement was made to meet the blue order on route back to the vehicle.
Heavily outnumbered but game as always, the Mansfield boys hatched a "plan"...

"Right then George, you can take at least two, Henry you can take two as well, Fuck it lads we can all handle two a piece can't we? Just stand and swing like" 

As Mansfield made the move, the Cleveland police went in heavy handed and had the Blue order on their toes. A free pass back to Mansfield for the boys then? Only time would tell.

As the lads get back into the van with a stolen gas heater in to warm up the cockles, the destination was Mansfield, Back on the dark cold street of Hartlepool it seemed the old bill had had enough of the weather and packed in for the day, The same couldn't be said for the Blue order, they knew the only way the boys could get out of their town, and waited around for the "inconspicuous" van emblazoned with Mansfield Van hire down the side to come crawling passed.

As the traffic lights turned to red it was on, the van had been spotted and ambushed by the Blue Order, Heavily outnumbered, there was only one option and that was to fight their way out. The side door opened and the windows opened, as line after line of Rogues donned in Stone island and Burberry kept coming, Police style coshes were wielded out of the window cracking a few northern skulls, the make shift seats had also come in as handy tools being launched into the attacking firm. As the Blue Order were being barraged by the vans contents, the lads from Mansfield decided getting out would be a great idea until their shoes turned into skis and chasing the order could have turned into a night in A&E with a broken leg rather than a broken nose.

The lights turned green and the MSE - outnumbered - had more than held their own against a very experienced Hartlepool firm.

Needless to say every service station on the return was raided by the boys. Pockets full of whatever they could get their hands on and headed back to Mansfield - Pride and bones still in tact.



MSE

Y daith hir i Gasnewydd (The Long trip to Newport)

As Saturday called, I found myself living the life of an armchair supporter, Stuck at work and watching the scores coming in, I must say "This isn't what Saturdays are made for".

Early doors, and a small number of fine young casuals make the start of their long journey to the valleys of Newport.

"Pretty much as soon as we got to Newport we were rounded up by the bill and put in a poxy little boozer near the ground"

So after a small wander around gets cut short by the local Heddlu, the day for travelling rapscallions is all but over.

                               

Reports suggest that due to last seasons festivities the Local constabulary were hot on their heels for any sign of travelling rogues.
No sign of the natives, however, I'm not prepared to comment on this as they have proved they are a game bunch when drawn away from their livestock.


Match report


"Sam Clucas' equaliser earned Mansfield Town a point in this full blooded clash with Newport County at Rodney Parade"

The view from the terraces -
A very heated game with challenges flying in that would have matched Roy Keane in his Alfe-Inge Haaland phase.
Late on in the first half, Newport struck first with a close range header from a dubious corner with the ball spotted half a yard outside of the corner arc. Needless to say, poor defending by our boys but I thought the low level officiating was left behind in the newly named Skrill Premier...
Mansfield then came on strong like we have done so often this season around the half time mark missing three clear cut chances.
The second half began with some very scrappy football being played by both teams,
The stags got their breakthrough with a corner whipped in by Ben Hutchinson who for me is showing some of his former champions league class, flicked on by the man mountain Matt Rhead to be turned in by the head of Sam Clucas for the second game consecutively, to send the 200+ travelling fans into raptures.

The equalising goal got the backs up of both home players and fans alike, again the challenges got more robust and a deserved red card was given to Lee Minsull for a blatant elbow to the face of Martin Riley.
Shortly after, talismanic Mansfield striker Matt Rhead - after a lot of provocation from the newport faithful - received his second bookable offence for a "late challenge" even though no contact was actually made.
It's well documented that the officials have a hard time of it west of the border and yet another has crumbled to the welsh pressure and lost his bottle resulting in Matt Rhead being banned for our game against York City.
Both teams went on to have chances but neither side could seal the game with a winning goal.
A fair result maybe? an unfair Mansfield dismissal definitely.

Mansfield young casuals man of the match goes to Chris Clements.




MSE 

Another no show from the south...

So yet again the youth of Mansfield are to be tested by any rogues from league 2,
I don't think anybody expected anything from the Daggers but as Saturday calls, a young set of Mansfield go on the hunt for beer, drugs and football violence only to be let down once again....





So with no southern shandy drinkers fancying a travel to the East Midlands, what can only be described as a debauched afternoon and evening session took place.

Highlights for me include
-The crashing and potentially ruining a hen party/wedding on the back of the swan
-And a character with a rather large nose hijacking the decks of a pretty empty Market having a tiff with the local door staff and getting thrown out on his ear.

So a pretty non de script afternoon for the Casual scene but a good ol' knees up and a stinking hangover all Sunday.


Match report

With the opening half hour passing by un-memorably filled with head tennis and big boot football, many could have believed we were still in the lower regions of the conference playing the likes of Braintree again.
Around the half hour the stags started to play football and unlocked the daggers defence, a glancing header from the ginger wizard Sam Clucas saw the stags go in at the half time whistle with a one goal advantage.

Half time - Beer Banter and a sneaky fag in the facilities of the QLE!

As the second half started, the boys in blue and yellow started as they meant to go on playing dominant football and decisively put the second between the posts.
A 25 yard half volley from Jamie Mcguire caught the nervy opposing keeper off guard leaving the young lad embarrassed sat head in hands in front of the Quarry Lane faithful.

The Game changer for me was the introduction of "The Beast" that is Matt Rhead.
Yet again he was unplayable, winning every header and deservedly got off the mark for the season after a cheeky back heel from Calvin Andrew left Rheady with an empty net from only yards out to graciously open his account.

Other than the fantastic football played in the second half my highlight of the game had to be a known young rogue coming very close to pocketing £850 from Mr Joe Coral.

Last week 2-2 Ben Hutchinson to score first won this up and comer a steady £160

This Saturdays bet - Sam Clucas to score first Mansfield to win 4-0....
Nerve biting chances went a miss for Mansfield as said lads finger nails got shorter.

Ah well better luck next time Young Mansfield.





So...who next
Saturday coming is Newport away and another trip to Rodney Parade.

And with last years antics I'm sure there may be a few looking to make the trip to the valleys and give the leek munchers another good going over.

If you plan on travelling west keep your wits about you, as these Daffodil wearing sheep shaggers are by no means an easy feat.


York away


So now we know where Ben Mitchell has been relocated since leaving Eastenders - its here fronting the York City Nomads.
And When the 14th rolls around I think he might wish he was Still in the Queen Vic, or Ian Beale's greasy spoon...

With a mere 74 miles to travel north towards the cathedral I can see this York city set having their hands very full.

I think one or two of them may wish they'd stuck to watching the big screen garbage such as green street.

Stick to chasing rings, Frodo!



Not Much to talk about this week so lets hope for some action in the very near future,

Keep it casual

MSE




 

Bank holiday blinder

As the bank holiday weekend crept ever nearer, something was in the air - an atmosphere that something big was about to happen.... Portsmouth at home.



Early doors in this great town and a group of immaculately dressed, fine looking young casuals meet in anticipation for a day that could bring us Glory and notoriety throughout the Casual scene.
Anybody who's ITK knows the history of the 6:57 and what they're capable of.
Would this be a day to remember?

Well in sorts, yes.

The morning goes by a lot slower than the drinks are going down and as we all know too well, chasing ghosts soon gets boring - when all of a sudden, word gets round that our boarders have been breached.

Time to call the cavalry... the hunt is on.


A centurion group of MSE then make very easy work of the remainder of the day.

on arrival at said destination a small number of 6:57 look bewildered at the sight of the "lower league minnows" turning up in such force,

"its going to go one of two ways mate, either we fucking have it now, or you all sit down, enjoy your beers, and shut the fuck up" - MSE
"well, we would have it, but you've just marched 100 lads into the pub, we'll get battered" - 6:57


Portsmouth get let off the hook...for now.

Alls well in the pub, but you can still sense an atmosphere when a conversation that pricked the ears of many happened.

Now apparently, the reason the famous south coast crew hadn't travelled is.... da da da da....

...They took 70 lads to accrington stanley last week...

Honestly, accrington stanley? I forgot they had a top firm and were renowned in the lower leagues for having a top mob... Oh wait...

I can just see lads from the likes of West ham not travelling to Chelsea because they'd gone to Wigan away the previous week. I'm sorry but this for me and many others out, was not an excuse.

"You're not in Accrington now mate so fuck off before I smash your head in"

All this being said the lads who travelled were by no means mugs and will be respected in these parts for a long while. They were Clued up and genuine gents on the casual scene.
They admitted defeat off the pitch gracefully, this resulting in no further action being taken against said lads.

"We've been outnumbered and outclassed today, we did not expect this.." -6:57

So if any other foreign hordes are planning on "Taking over the town", I'd be careful where you step, and keep an eye over your shoulder.

Its official...

MANSFIELD ARE BACK!

After all being squared with the travelling rogues, that left a little time before the game to have a bit of fun with the Pompey fans - Which must be said, turned a little sour its self when some brave lad decided to do a bit of glass juggling, which obviously went wrong and ended up shaving a few hairs off one of two Mansfield heads.

Fortunately for the Portsmouth shirt wearers, faithful Nottinghamshire's finest constabulary were there to hold their hands




So what usually happens when somebody throws a glass at you?

It's Mansfield's fault....

The Portsmouth faithful soon quietened down and the heavy handed OB try and take charge.






Order of the day for the majority? the dreaded Section 27....

"Section 27 legislation allows police to move someone from a specified area for a period of up to 48 hours. No offence needs to have been committed for the act to be enforced: the legislation gives police the power to move on people who they say pose a risk of alcohol-related disorder."




And as mentioned in a previous post... the obligatory arrest.

All in all a great show of force from our boys old and young, the reputation is back and is ours to defend.
HOME AND AWAY!






Match report
A hard fought 2-2 draw which could of gone either way, in my opinion probably a fair result, Portsmouth having the better of the first half, and Mansfield the latter.

The highlight of the game had to be Ben Hutchinson's 25 yard Volley leaving the pompey keeper helpless to watch the ball sail into the back of the net.



It looks to me as though Portsmouth are realising they're not going to walk the league as they once thought, this highlighted by the hugely supported club not selling out as so frequently promised at the start of the season.


Good result on and off the pitch.

Lets keep this momentum going week in week out.

Enjoy the rest of your bank holiday weekend and as they say,

Keep it casual

MSE

And it begins...

So like the majority, this match for me wasn't a glamour tie I was rushing to get tickets for,
Wycombe Wanderers away.....

Bog standard ground - Check
Shite home support - Check
No pubs within a 10 mile radius of the ground - Check
Very little or no lads - Check

A round trip of 270 miles didn't really give me a hard on this saturday, I've been to wycombe before, and lets be honest, there's fuck all there.

So for my off pitch report...



A great big, FUCK ALL!


On the pitch however, a different story.
Our lads in Yellow and Blue did us proud and got our first three points since returning to the league.
The game like our two before, saw Mansfield dominate for long periods of time, with chance after chance being spurned.
I, like most of you, assumed it was going to be another goalless draw.
But then a piece of tactical magic, a late substitution saw new man Ollie Palmer (cue chants) slot in a short range header... We are off the mark!


The remaining 10 or 15 minutes seemed to take a lifetime to pass and with fingernails getting increasingly shorter, I couldn't wait for the final whistle.

Lets hope this is a start of things to come...

Now, like me, I'm sure you're all pissing glitter at the thought of next weeks tie.
Portsmouth will be travelling North to this great town.
These fellas need no introduction "The 6:57"


Big city, Big numbers, Big firm...

...That's enough arse licking for my liking though, as the video below proves, I think we have the numbers to match the majority of firms in the football league...

"They've got big numbers mate..."

"Haha dont you worry pal its all about quality, not quantity" 




Like the countdown to christmas this week is going to be a grueller, Roll on saturday.
And see you all bright and early...

MSE