'It's not been dull' - Clough on five years with Stags

Nigel Clough has been in charge at only four clubs during his 27 years as a football manager - Burton Albion (twice), Derby County, Sheffield United and Mansfield Town

Nigel Clough says the five years he has been in charge of Mansfield Town has been shaped by the people of the Nottinghamshire town his club represents.

The 59-year-old is the longest serving manager in the English Football League (EFL) after Harrogate Town's Simon Weaver, whose father owns the club he has coached for the past 16 years.

It was during a trying time in his first year as Stags boss that Clough says he learned what it would mean to be successful at the club.

The supporters' appreciation for a point picked up against Port Vale at home during a miserable 14-match winless run that included nine defeats at the start of the 2021-22 season has stayed with the manager ever since.

"I will always remember the standing ovation the supporters gave us that night," Clough told BBC Radio Nottingham.

"It's a working-class town and they want to see that reflected on the pitch. The hard work is what they want to see, because they work hard in their lives.

"We hadn't been here that long, but it brings it home that as long as you give them what we gave them that night, win, lose or draw, they will give you that response.

"And that has been the case for the past five years."

Longevity as a manager has defined the former England and Nottingham Forest striker's career in the technical area in a field of work where comparatively short spells are the norm.

And the half a decade spent at the helm at the One Call Stadium is just the second longest stint Clough has had at one club, with 16 of his 27 years in management spent at Burton Albion over two separate spells.

He had four and a half years at Derby County in the Championship and 19 months with Sheffield United, then a League One club who he guided to the semi-finals of both the FA Cup and League Cup, in between those two stints with the Brewers.

Clough was brought to Mansfield by owners John and Carolyn Radford in November 2020 to initially steer the Stags away from the danger of relegation from League Two.

Within three years of keeping the East Midlands club in the EFL, and after overseeing a crushing League Two promotion play-off defeat by Port Vale at Wembley in 2022, he guided them to automatic promotion to League One after more than two decades outside of the division.

"It certainly hasn't been dull," Clough said.

"There have been a lot of ups and downs, but mainly ups I hope for the supporters and everybody.

"We are still around and where we want to be in League One, where we are trying to establish ourselves, competing every week to see where that takes us."

Mansfield are eighth in the table and just three points outside the play-off places after 14 matches as they prepare to face Northampton Town on Saturday.