Nigel Clough set to become Mansfield Town's longest-serving manager

Nigel Clough, who took charge of Mansfield Town in November 2020, this weekend becomes the club's longest-serving manager.

"I don't think it's particularly an achievement; I think it's more an indictment of football that nobody else has lasted that long," Clough told BBC Sport, noting the milestone as he surpasses club great Ian Greaves.

Clough already holds Burton Albion's record after 16 years at the club across two spells, and he is six years and one week into the Mansfield job; he is the second longest-serving manager across England's top four leagues behind only Mikel Arteta at Arsenal.

He has overseen 329 Mansfield matches across all competitions and, with 16 years at Burton included, has extensive managerial longevity in the professional game.

Reflecting on managerial tenures, Clough invoked long-serving figures from the past: "When you look back 20 or 30 years, my dad was at Forest for 18 years, Alex Ferguson was at Manchester United for so long and then there was Arsene Wenger at Arsenal. That was at the top level, but even lower down there was a lot of managers who stayed a lot of years," and added, "I just think it's sad the way football is going at the moment. The first bad period that people have, a month, two months or something like that, and the manager is the one that goes."

Clough has played in the top flight for Forest, Liverpool and Manchester City, has been in management for 28 years and has been in charge of four clubs: Mansfield, Burton, Derby County and Sheffield United.

Since moving from non-league Burton to take the Derby job in the Championship in 2009, no-one has overseen more matches than Clough's 893 across England's top four divisions, a span highlighted alongside League Managers' Association data showing managers in those leagues now stay in post for less than a year on average.

That trend has included high-profile short spells this week, with Manchester United sacking Michael Carrick when he was 10 months into the job and Crystal Palace relieving Pierre Sage after only 16 games; when asked if he had ever felt his job was under threat at Mansfield, Clough answered "of course," pointing to a relegation-place position and a 12-match winless run in his first full campaign in charge in 2021-22.

He survived that spell, oversaw a club-record 11 consecutive home wins and took Mansfield to the League Two play-off final at Wembley later that same season; two years on they were promoted automatically after finishing third, ending a 21-year absence from the third tier, and when he kept them up in their first season back "Clough did what no-one had done for 35 years." Last season Mansfield finished 10th, the club's highest league placing since 1987 when Ian Greaves guided them to the same position.

Players and supporters point to Clough's influence on recruitment and culture: Stags supporter Dean Foulkes says it "has been an incredible journey," adding "He is really good football man to have around. We should be proud that he is Mansfield Town manager." The club signed David McGoldrick in the summer and have attracted Tyler Roberts, Michael Smith and loanee George Abbott; Ryan Sweeney said the chance to play for Clough was "the main reason" he returned, Stephen McLaughlin said Clough "manages differently to any other manager" and Jordan Bowery added, "He is incredibly loyal and trusts me in those positions," also saying, "A lot of managers wouldn't do that, but he's had my back and I appreciate that."

Mansfield sit 11th in the League One table after 13 games this season. Additional reporting was provided by BBC Radio Nottingham's David Jackson and Jake Garner.