Manager Nigel Clough says it was ‘wonderful’ to be able to celebrate with Stags’ fans after the final home game on Saturday afternoon.
Mansfield came from behind to beat play-off chasers Gillingham 2-1 at One Call Stadium, regaining second spot in Sky Bet League Two
After the game, Stags players were given a lap of honour by supporters following confirmation of their return to League One on Tuesday.
The gaffer spoke about being able to enjoy the events that followed the full-time whistle: “Afterwards I thought it was absolutely brilliant that we could go round with the families and see all the kids and everything and us [be able to] say thank you to the supporters.
“[It was] An opportunity for us to be able to say thank you to the supporters all round the ground as well. Starting in the family section over here [and] all the way round say thank you for your support, and I think 90 odd percent of the supporters stayed.”
The manager then went on to talk about his side’s performance in today’s victory: “Once we got that equaliser I thought we were going to go on and win it, [we] could’ve probably scored more on the break at the end.
“As much as anything to finish it off in style, not just in terms of the result but in terms of the quality of the goals.
“Here we are on 85 points now, second in the league and we want to try to finish second and get a result up at Barrow next week.”
Nigel then went on to express his opinion on recent news of the FA Cup abolishing replays, He said: “I think it’s a disgraceful decision.
“The EFL have come out and said we weren’t consulted yet the FA Cup and the Premier League have said yes everybody was united on this, [so] somebody’s not telling the truth.
“To get a replay can make the difference between a club surviving or not surviving.”