MANSFIELD, England (AFP) - You won't find Lamborghinis or Bentleys in the car park at Field Mill, the humble home of Mansfield Town, the 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 seven pounds (9.6 euros); at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United, the top price would set you back 44 pounds (60 euros).

Things got so bad last weekend that Mansfield manager Billy Dearden even apologised 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," said Dearden.

"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."

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 honours board.

Money has always been tight.

Although they once received 655,000 pounds (898,000 euros) when they sold Scottish international defender Colin Calderwood to Spurs in 1997, their outgoings have been meagre.

The team's record signing remains Lee Peacock who cost just 150,000 pounds (205,000 euros) 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 pounds (960 euros) a week," said former manager Keith Curle.

Just to make Christmas even more grim for the country's worst team, the fans saw a proposed takeover of the club collapse two weeks ago.

Now a supporters' group is reportedly planning to finance their own buyout.

But it's a tough proposition. The club is reportedly on course to lose around 500,000 pounds (686,000 euros) this year.

In the meantime, Dearden, in his second spell at the club, is looking for a lifeline in the January transfer window.

"January can't come soon enough but we have a big job to do over the next couple of weeks before then," said the 63-year-old.

"This is a big challenge, and I think we can do it but we have to bring two or three in. We have to stay together and hope we can get a good result against Peterborough on Wednesday."

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