The 1976–77 season was Mansfield Town's 40th season in the Football League and 13th in the Third Division, they finished in 1st position with 64 points gaining their first promotion to the second tier.[1]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mansfield Town (C, P) | 46 | 28 | 8 | 10 | 78 | 42 | +36 | 64 | Promotion to the Second Division |
| 2 | Brighton & Hove Albion (P) | 46 | 25 | 11 | 10 | 83 | 40 | +43 | 61 | |
| 3 | Crystal Palace (P) | 46 | 23 | 13 | 10 | 68 | 40 | +28 | 59 | |
| 4 | Rotherham United | 46 | 22 | 15 | 9 | 69 | 44 | +25 | 59 | |
| 5 | Wrexham | 46 | 24 | 10 | 12 | 80 | 54 | +26 | 58 |
| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 August 1976 | Preston North End | H | 3–1 | 5,688 | McCaffrey, Eccles (2) |
| 2 | 28 August 1976 | Rotherham United | A | 0–3 | 5,358 | |
| 3 | 4 September 1976 | Grimsby Town | H | 3–0 | 5,221 | Eccles (3) |
| 4 | 7 September 1976 | Oxford United | A | 3–0 | 4,017 | Eccles, Foster, Randall |
| 5 | 11 September 1976 | York City | A | 1–0 | 2,716 | Eccles |
| 6 | 18 September 1976 | Tranmere Rovers | H | 1–1 | 6,859 | Randall |
| 7 | 25 September 1976 | Crystal Palace | A | 0–2 | 14,760 | |
| 8 | 2 October 1976 | Bury | H | 5–0 | 6,519 | Matthews, Miller (2), Randall (2) |
| 9 | 9 October 1976 | Peterborough United | A | 1–2 | 7,031 | McCaffrey |
| 10 | 16 October 1976 | Chester | A | 0–1 | 4,252 | |
| 11 | 23 October 1976 | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | 1–1 | 7,231 | Foster |
| 12 | 30 October 1976 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 2–0 | 15,982 | Miller, Matthews |
| 13 | 2 November 1976 | Shrewsbury Town | A | 0–0 | 6,161 | |
| 14 | 6 November 1976 | Lincoln City | H | 3–1 | 8,232 | Jim McCaffrey, Hodgson, Hubbard (o.g.) |
| 15 | 8 November 1976 | Reading | H | 4–0 | 7,636 | Randall (4) |
| 16 | 13 November 1976 | Gillingham | A | 1–3 | 5,457 | Hodgson |
| 17 | 27 November 1976 | Swindon Town | H | 1–1 | 6,683 | Hodgson |
| 18 | 18 December 1976 | Wrexham | H | 2–0 | 5,399 | Hodgson, Miller |
| 19 | 27 December 1976 | Chesterfield | A | 1–0 | 11,826 | Randall |
| 20 | 28 December 1976 | Port Vale | H | 2–1 | 7,977 | Randall, Moss |
| 21 | 11 January 1977 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 1–0 | 13,761 | Moss |
| 22 | 18 January 1977 | Portsmouth | A | 2–2 | 10,720 | Moss, Miller |
| 23 | 22 January 1977 | Preston North End | A | 2–1 | 11,110 | Moss, Foster |
| 24 | 5 February 1977 | Rotherham United | H | 3–1 | 11,527 | Moss, Randall, Morris |
| 25 | 7 February 1977 | Oxford United | H | 3–0 | 8,207 | Moss (2), Bird |
| 26 | 12 February 1977 | Grimsby Town | A | 1–0 | 5,536 | Foster |
| 27 | 15 February 1977 | Lincoln City | A | 2–3 | 9,588 | Bird, McEwan |
| 28 | 19 February 1977 | York City | H | 4–1 | 7,576 | Randall (2), Bird, Morris |
| 29 | 28 February 1977 | Walsall | H | 3–0 | 8,026 | Bird, Morris, Robinson (o.g.) |
| 30 | 5 March 1977 | Crystal Palace | H | 1–0 | 10,944 | Foster |
| 31 | 8 March 1977 | Northampton Town | H | 1–0 | 7,238 | Randall |
| 32 | 12 March 1977 | Bury | A | 0–2 | 5,321 | |
| 33 | 19 March 1977 | Peterborough United | H | 1–1 | 7,692 | Cooke |
| 34 | 21 March 1977 | Tranmere Rovers | A | 0–4 | 2,121 | |
| 35 | 26 March 1977 | Chester | H | 1–1 | 6,976 | Moss |
| 36 | 2 April 1977 | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | 1–3 | 23,034 | Moss |
| 37 | 9 April 1977 | Port Vale | H | 4–1 | 4,389 | Bird (2), Foster, Randall |
| 38 | 11 April 1977 | Chesterfield | H | 2–1 | 11,905 | Bird, Moss |
| 39 | 12 April 1977 | Shrewsbury Town | H | 1–0 | 9,840 | Bird, McEwan |
| 40 | 16 April 1977 | Reading | A | 0–1 | 5,121 | |
| 41 | 19 April 1977 | Walsall | A | 2–1 | 7,001 | Moss, Hynd (o.g.) |
| 42 | 23 April 1977 | Gillingham | H | 2–2 | 8,191 | Randall, Foster |
| 43 | 30 April 1977 | Swindon Town | A | 1–0 | 6,015 | Foster |
| 44 | 2 May 1977 | Portsmouth | H | 2–0 | 10,744 | Foster, Randall |
| 45 | 7 May 1977 | Northampton Town | H | 3–0 | 11,314 | McEwan, Bird, Moss |
| 46 | 14 May 1977 | Wrexham | A | 1–0 | 20,754 | Moss |
| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | 20 November 1976 | Huddersfield Town | A | 0–0 | 9,025 | |
| R1 Replay | 22 November 1976 | Huddersfield Town | H | 2–1 | 9,036 | Randall, Eccles |
| R2 | 15 December 1976 | Matlock Town | A | 2–5 | 8,181 | Foster, Matthews |
| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 1st leg | 14 August 1976 | Scunthorpe United | H | 2–0 | 5,224 | McCaffrey, Eccles |
| R1 2nd leg | 17 August 1976 | Scunthorpe United | A | 0–2 | 3,164 | |
| R1 Replay | 24 August 1976 | Scunthorpe United | A | 1–2 | 4,319 | McCaffrey |
| Pos. | Name | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| GK |  Rod Arnold
|
46 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 52 | 0 |
| DF | Kevin Bird
|
37(1) | 8 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 40(1) | 8 |
| DF | Barry Foster
|
39 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 43 | 0 |
| DF | Colin Foster
|
44 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 10 |
| DF | Ian MacKenzie
|
28 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 34 | 0 |
| DF |  Sandy Pate
|
14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| DF | Mick Saxby
|
10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| DF | Ian Wood
|
13(1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15(2) | 0 |
| MF | Gordon Hodgson
|
46 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 52 | 4 |
| MF | Micky Laverick
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | Paul Matthews
|
17(1) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18(1) | 3 |
| MF | Jim McCaffrey
|
16(2) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 22(2) | 5 |
| MF | Ian McDonald
|
15(7) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17(7) | 0 |
| MF | Billy McEwan
|
23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 3 |
| MF | Peter Morris
|
32 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 38 | 3 |
| FW | Robbie Cooke
|
3(6) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4(6) | 1 |
| FW | Terry Eccles
|
10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 9 |
| FW | Johnny Miller
|
40 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 46 | 5 |
| FW | Ernie Moss
|
29 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 13 |
| FW | Kevin Randall
|
44 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 18 |
| – | Own goals | – | 3 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 3 |
