Heroes & Villains – Mansfield Town
Hero – Sandy Pate (1967 – 78)
Right back Sandy Pate holds the record for most appearances for Mansfield Town, playing 471 times for The Stags between 1967 and 1978.
Incredibly, Pate appeared in 366 consecutive games for the club between 21st September 1968 and 9th August 1975.
The Glaswegian played for the club during their most successful era, when the won the Fourth Division championship in 1974/75 and the Third Division three seasons later. There is a bar named after him at the club’s stadium.
Villain – Carlton Palmer (2004 – 2005)
Any manager that sells the fan’s favourite players and releases a player recovering from a serious illness is never going to be popular.
Palmer thought so much of himself that he registered himself as a player for the first time squad despite being 39. He even selected himself in a game against his former side Stockport County, becoming the oldest debutant in the club’s history.
As performances took a dip, Palmer blamed everyone but himself. After only ten wins in 38 games, one of the worst players to play for England was shown the door by the powers-that-be at Field Mill on 17th September 2005.
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