Mansfield Town play in the fourth tier of English football in front of crowds that rarely trouble five figures. Their ground, though, holds a title no Premier League stadium can touch: Field Mill is the oldest ground in the Football League. Football has been played on this site off Quarry Lane since 1861 — decades before the League itself existed, and nearly 60 years before Mansfield Town moved in.
That places it twelfth on our ranking of the oldest stadiums in the world still in use — though, as we explain below, the exact founding date is genuinely disputed.
Key Stats
| Opened | 1861 (some sources say 1850 — see below) |
| Location | Quarry Lane, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire NG18 5DA, England |
| Capacity | 10,022 (reduced at times by stand closures; the Bishop Street Stand reopened with 727 seats in August 2025) |
| Tenants | Mansfield Town (1919–present); previously Mansfield Mechanics (1912–1916) and Mansfield Marksman rugby league (1984–1986) |
| Sport | Association football |
| Current name | One Call Stadium (sponsored) |
| Record attendance | 24,467 v Nottingham Forest, 10 January 1953 |
1850 or 1861? The honest answer
You will see Field Mill dated to 1850 in plenty of places, including club material and some reference works. The stronger documented claim is 1861, which is the date normally cited for football being played on the site. The earlier 1850 figure appears in “some reports,” as Wikipedia’s own entry carefully puts it, but it is not backed by the same weight of evidence.
This matters more than it might sound. If 1850 were firmly established, Field Mill would leap several places up the all-time oldest-grounds list. On the 1861 date it still comfortably outranks every other Football League ground — but it sits behind Bramall Lane (1855) and several cricket venues. We list it at 1861 and flag the dispute rather than take the flattering number at face value. Anyone claiming certainty either way is overselling the evidence.
Mansfield Town’s long tenancy
The ground existed for over half a century before its current occupants arrived. Mansfield Mechanics used it from 1912 to 1916; Mansfield Town took it over for the 1919–20 season and have been there ever since, through a rise into the Football League in 1931, a peak of third-tier football, two spells outside the League, and the near-permanent state of financial improvisation that defines lower-division English clubs. For two seasons in the mid-1980s it even hosted rugby league, when the short-lived Mansfield Marksman played there from 1984 to 1986.
The record crowd tells you what Field Mill once was. On 10 January 1953, 24,467 people crammed in for an FA Cup tie against Nottingham Forest — more than double the ground’s modern capacity, on terraces long since replaced by seats.
The modern ground
Field Mill was substantially rebuilt between 1999 and 2001, with the reopened stadium formally unveiled by then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott on 28 July 2001. The dominant structure is the two-tier Ian Greaves Stand on the west side, named for a former Mansfield Town manager; it seats 5,417 across upper and lower tiers. Behind the goals sit the Quarry Lane End (1,968) and the North Stand (1,910).
The fourth side, the Bishop Street Stand, is the one that gives the ground its character — a long, low structure that has repeatedly been closed and reopened over the years, most recently renovated with 727 new seats that opened in August 2025. The stadium has carried the One Call Stadium name under sponsorship, and is owned by Mansfield Town chairman John Radford.
FAQ
Is Field Mill the oldest football ground in England?
It is the oldest ground in the Football League, but not the oldest football ground overall. Bramall Lane in Sheffield opened in 1855 and Sandygate Road, home of Hallam FC, dates to 1804 — though Sandygate has never hosted League football.
Why do some sources say Field Mill dates from 1850?
Because a handful of reports and club materials use that date. The better-supported figure for organised football on the site is 1861, and reference sources generally present 1850 as a claim rather than an established fact.
What is Field Mill’s capacity?
10,022 at full configuration. The working capacity has fluctuated over the years because of stand closures and safety certificate restrictions, most notably affecting the North and Bishop Street stands.
Why is it called the One Call Stadium?
One Call Insurance holds the naming rights. Supporters, opposition fans and most football writers still call it Field Mill, which is how it appears in almost every historical record of the ground.
Photo: Rileyandco via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)