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Mansfield Town spends Christmas at the bottom

You won't find Lamborghinis or Bentleys in the car park at Field Mill, the humble home of Mansfield Town, the soccer team spending Christmas propping up the English league.

Sitting 91 places below Premiership leaders Arsenal, Mansfield's collection of loan signings and bargain basement recruits are rock bottom of League Two, the fourth and last tier of the professional game in the country.

With just three wins this season, the Stags are facing the drop into the semi-professional Conference and survive on home gates which just about break the 2,000 mark.

It's a far cry from the cash-drenched Premiership, the home of bumper crowds, big-earning superstars and their big-spending WAGS.

At Field Mill, tickets are just ?7 (US$13); at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United, the top price would set you back ?44.

Things got so bad last weekend that Mansfield manager Billy Dearden even apologized to his team's supporters after the 2-0 defeat at local rivals Chesterfield.

"It hurts to be bottom at Christmas and hurts the players as much as anyone," Dearden said.

"I feel for the supporters who stood there in the rain and I'm sorry we haven't given them anything to shout about again," he said.

Mansfield, in the East Midlands, were founded in 1897 and have been staggeringly unsuccessful with just the 1975 fourth division and 1977 third division titles to carve into their team's honors board.

Money has always been tight.

Despite once receiving ?655,000 for selling Scottish international defender Colin Calderwood to Spurs in 1997, their outgoings have been meager.

The team's record signing remains Lee Peacock who cost just ?150,000 from Carlisle in 1997.

Successive managers have always complained about the lack of funds.

"It wasn't a good environment because the finances weren't made available which could have made the club more successful -- the top wage I had for any player was ?700 a week," former manager Keith Curle said.
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