Remembering one of the club's greatest ever players, Kevin Bird, who has died aged 70.
Kevin was born in Armthorpe, near Doncaster, on 07 August 1952. He started his career with his home town club, Doncaster Rovers, but was not retained in the summer of 1972.
Kevin was known to Frank Marshall, the Stags’ assistant manager, from his time with Rovers, and he persuaded him to come to Mansfield.
It was a great decision for the club. ‘Birdy’ stayed with the Stags for 11 full seasons making 377 league appearances, scoring 53 goals (463 appearances, 63 goals in all competitions).
A tough-tackling central defender par-excellence, he also scored a remarkable number of goals for a player in that position. He is fifth on the club's list of Football League appearances and 12th on the goalscorers list.
He was one of the mainstays of the brilliant Stags' side of the mid-1970s winning both the 4th and 3rd Division Championships.
He stayed in Mansfield when he retired and was a regular attendee at the club's home games until severely affected by illness.
A truly great clubman which was recognised by the club in 2009 when the Kevin Bird Suite was named in his honour.
He will never be forgotten by the Mansfield faithful who saw him play in the famous amber and blue.
