The football club was formed for the cricketers to stay fit during the winter months, playing only friendly games, with the first match taking place at Cowley Barracks. In 1911 the club added 'United' to their name as they continued without a permanent home ground, with fixtures taking place at Quarry Recreation Ground, Wootten's Field, Sandy Lane and Britannia Field. They purchase Wootten's Field but this was redeveloped in 1920.
A year earlier the club entered competitive football for the first time by joining the Oxfordshire District League. In 1925 a permanent home was found as the club moved into The Manor Ground to share with Headington Cricket Club.
After playing in other local leagues, United played in the Spartan League in 1947 and 1948 and then successfully applied to join the Southern League the year after, at the same time the cricket moved out to a new ground in Cowley.
In 1950 the former First Division player Harry Thompson was appointed as manager as United became the first professional club in the UK to install floodlights. The Southern League title was won in 1952-53 with a runners up spot to follow the season after.
Arthur Turner took over as manager in 1958 and after another second place league finish, back to back championships were won in 1960-61 and 1961-62. By now the club had changed their name in 1960 to Oxford United, to try and gain a higher profile, as wing half Ron Atkinson embarked on the start of a glittering career.
Their success paid dividends when the club were elected to the Football League for the 1962-63 season to replace the bankrupt Accrington Stanley. By 1965 'The U's' had progressed to the Third Division, where they remained until the end of the 1967-68 when promotion to Division Two was secured. They lasted at that level for a spell of eight seasons before suffering relegation back to their previous status.
In 1982 United were close to bankruptcy as the club were in debt to Barclays Bank. However, businessman and media magnate Robert Maxwell arrived to save the day. Maxwell unveiled a hugely unpopular plan to merge United with Reading in March 1983, moving the new club to Didcot and naming them Thames Valley Royals.
U's boss Jim Smith was to manage the side, with Reading supremo Maurice Evans to assist. The merger was only averted after mass protests from supporters, despite Maxwell threatening to fold the club if the move didn't go through.
Instead Smith led the team to the Third and then Second Division titles in consecutive seasons, with the club finding itself in the League's top tier for the first time in their history for the start of the 1985-86 season.
The good times continued to roll as the League Cup was lifted in their new found level following a 3-0 win over Queens Park Rangers at Wembley, with the likes of Ray Houghton, Kevin Brock, John Aldridge and the fearsome defensive combo of Malcolm Shotton and Gary Briggs starring.
By now Maurice Evans had taken over as manager after Smith had moved to their opponents in the final to make success that little bit sweeter.
To see action from the historic day, click here:
The League Cup win was probably the highlight, as the following season saw the team narrowly avoid relegation. Robert Maxwell resigned as chairman in May 1987 to take over at Derby County, handing the club over to his son Kevin.
The 1987-88 season ended in relegation with Evans replaced by Mark Lawrenson to wards the end of the campaign. He didn't last too long as he walked out after the a disagreement over selling Dean Saunders to Derby!
When Maxwell met his demise in 1991, his estate including United became insolvent. A new owner was searched for, and eventually BioMass Recycling Ltd took over.
Brian Horton steadied the ship before moving on and after another brief shift from Evans, Denis Smith took over at the helm. Sadly he could not prevent relegation at the end of the 1993-94 season.
Smith signed some experienced players as Robin Herd took over the club in 1995. Plans were announced for a new stadium at Minchery Farm near to the Blackbird Leys housing estate.
In early 1997 construction began, but it was suspended a year later after monies were not paid to Taylor Woodrow the company building the stadium. Former playing hero Malcolm Shotton was next in charge of the team as the clubs finances once again put their future in jeopardy.
Fans set up FOUL (Fighting for Oxford United's Life) to raise awareness of the situation. Firoz Kassam bought the club from Herd for just £1, but he inherited the £15M debts.
He sold the Manor Ground to another of his companies for £6M and then reduced the other £9M down to £900,000 by setting up an acceptable CVA with the creditors. The stadium work was restarted as well as the gaining of planning permission for Kassam to construct a bowling alley, cinema and hotel next to the new venue.
Several managers tried their hand, but the club found themselves back in the League's basement division in the summer of 2001, just as they moved into the Kassam Stadium. By March 2006 the club had gone through another six managers, but still found themselves in the same division.
At that point Kassam decided to sell the club for £2M, which included all the debts to former youth team player Nick Merry. Kassam kept the ownership of the stadium, with United paying rent to play there.
Jim Smith was brought back as team boss, but he could not prevent a poor run which ended in relegation to the Football Conference in 2005-06. Ironically it was Accrington Stanley who took United's place in the League.
The crowds stuck with The U's as a record regular season gate of 11,065 turned out for the Boxing Day clash with Woking. Smith could not repeat his former glories and after Darren Patterson having a short spell in the hot seat and a the club undergoing a change of ownership, Chris Wilder was appointed.
After a promising start to his spell, Wilder took the team back to the League in 2009-10 via a Play Off Final victory over York City at Wembley. After a season of consolidation, United finished just outside the play offs in 2011-12, before owner Ian Lenagan also took on the role as club chairman.
With United hovering around the play off places Wilder surprisingly handed in his resignation in January 2014 to take the managers job at bottom of the table Northampton Town. Mickey Lewis stood in as caretaker before Gary Waddock was appointed as permanent manager.
Waddock departed in the summer of 2014 after the side slipped out of the play-off places, with Michael Appleton being appointed as his replacement. He set about rebuilding the side and took United to promotion to League One in 2015-16.
The club also enjoyed a visit to Wembley; where they were defeated in the final of the Football League Trophy by Barnsley. The club made a repeat visit in the same competition the following season before going down to Coventry City.
Appleton left the club in June 2017 to become the assistant manager at Leicester City, with former Leeds United assistant boss Pep Clotet arriving in his place. The Spaniard was sacked in January 2018 with Karl Robinson eventually arriving in his place.
United finished the 2018-19 campaign in twelfth position before being well poised for a promotion challenge when the COVID-19 pandemic halted the 2019-20 season.
Oxford United FC will play in the EFL League One in the 2019-20 season.
My visits
Oxford United 1 Hull City 1 (Saturday 29th October 1983) Division Three (att: 7,884)
As a student in Borehamwood on the outskirts of London I was enjoying the cartography part of my course while struggling badly with the mathematics involved with the land surveying. I needed some relief and it was offered with a trip to a new ground to watch The Tigers.
I set out to the city proudly wearing my Tigers shirt and a borrowed Union Jack, on which I had taped 'Hull City' across the middle. I got a few looks from the locals as I headed to the station.
Unfortunately back in the day, I had a terrible problem with gambling on fruit machines. I managed to blow all my spare money at Kings Cross. This meant on arrival at Oxford station I had to walk the three or so miles to Headington.
I stood outside the away end hoping for a solution to getting in after explaining my predicament to the police. I told them that I lost the money when walking to the ground. Just after kick off I asked if there was any way I could go on and repay later. One of the coppers took pity on me and another fan in a similar situation and took us in through the gate to join the thousand or so City fans behind the goal.
City went into the game in third place after being defeated in the league for the first time the week before, while United were unbeaten at the top. Jim Smith was in the process of taking his team to the title, while Colin Appleton also had a good side who were coping easily after their promotion the campaign before.
I took stock of my surroundings. We were on the Cuckoo Lane End, which was an open terrace wedged into the space available. Opposite was the London Road End, which had a large fence at the front owing to the badly sloping pitch and a roof over the vocal locals. In the corner on our right were two little pavilion like structures which were the grounds original seating, but by now hosted sponsors and players.
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| Many thanks to Martin Smith for permission to use his photo from the match. |
Alongside was the main Beech Road Stand, with a large bank of seating behind a terraced paddock. The stand ended just past the half way line, where open terracing took over. The final side consisted of the small Osler Road Stand and then a few rows of open terrace. It was a ramshackle arrangement and one that the club would struggle with as it progressed. By the time it was demolished additional seated stands had been added down the Osler Road side.
City attacked down the hill in the first half and went in ahead at the interval following a Brian Marwood strike. The U's piled on the pressure in the second period, with The Tigers defence holding firm and Tony Norman having another fine game until they were finally breached.
There had been the odd scuffle around the ground during the afternoon and at full time plenty of likely lads from the London Road End piled onto the pitch and advanced towards us throwing missiles, some of which were picked up from the crumbling terracing. I wasn't especially looking forward to the walk back.
Luckily the home fans looking for trouble congregated near the away coaches so I was fine. Along the trek back I was behind a few United fans, with one saying that they'd have been sick if they were a City fan only drawing the game.
I got chatting and they were good fans. It made the journey go quicker. I met some Tigers fans from Ipswich on the train back and we got chatting to some Chelsea fans on the tube who extolled the qualities of Kerry Dixon and David Speedie.
Oxford United 2 Accrington Stanley 0 (Tuesday 18th December 2012) FA Cup Round Two Replay (att: 2,566)
It was early shift time and I pondered between a relatively local revisit to Brentford and Bradford City at the same stage of the competition, where they were only charging £12 admission, or a new ground. I had put off a visit to the Kassam for far too long as I'd read about the awkwardness of getting there from the station.
After much musing I decided to bite the bullet, so with advanced rail tickets and match ticket booked saving me money on the day I headed for Paddington. It was a pleasant surprise to get on a high speed direct train for the journey and just over an hour later I was in the university city.
Eventually after getting through the congestion I got outside where the number five bus was awaiting. I paid £3.20 return to Blackbird Leys, which seemed very good value for a four mile ride either way.
Although it was dark, the city's buildings still looked stunning as the bus wound its way along the narrow streets that were becoming busier as the workers headed home. The ride along the ethnically diverse Cowley Road showcased a plethora of eateries and drinking establishments and looked a good night out for future reference.
I jumped out near the Blackbird pub on the sprawling estate with the glow in the dark pointing me in the right direction through various snickets to the stadium.
After collecting my ticket from reception I took a few photos before following a few others for a couple of hundred yards to pub intriguingly called The Priory. I was directed to a huge marquee outside for real ale, which was no doubt a hub of activity when London Irish played their home games from 2012 at the Kassam.
Sadly the beer was in keg form, bu at least it was only £2.50 a pint with Tetley's and Hobgoblin on offer. The locals seemed friendly and a jolly bunch. I had a warm inside the pub before heading back to the game.
The portable burger van on the car park seemed busy, which pointed towards a poor catering experience inside judging by experience. Once through the turnstiles I immediately regretted not bringing food from the van in with me as the queues at the only open concession were large. Instead I went inside the stand to get my photos and to have a look.
The stadium was excellent if a little soulless. The South Stand was the main structure, with two tiers of seating separated by corporate boxes. It was almost identical to the one at The New Den. A nice touch along the balcony wall was a board commemorating each of the clubs honours.
Opposite, home and away fans shared the single tiered seated North Stand. I was in the East Stand behind the goal. Again this was a single block of seating, although there were a few rows walled off at the back for further seating if required in the future. The other end was totally unoccupied with just a fence to stop errant shots from flying into the car park behind. Foundations are in place for a fourth stand, should the need arise.
Just after kick off I popped downstairs for some much needed food, to find two poor blokes looking like they were ready to collapse. The club had totally underestimated the demand for catering and they'd been left on their own with a poor supply of stock. I purchased a small Cornish pastie, which was most tasty and a watery cheeseburger, which was definitely not. A bovril was much needed as the cold was beginning to bite.
The highlight of the first half was seeing a bloke near me skillfully lick the open top of his Muller yoghurt carton. There was a couple of half chances for the U's but they were up the other end so it was hard to judge how close they got. It was dire stuff.
sometimes feel sorry for Accy and the stick they get as they punch above their weight, a bit like Scarborough did during their League days, but last night any sympathies went out of the window, even though I admired the thirty or so loyal fans who'd made the journey south.
Their players showed a couple of pieces of gamesmanship which I found disgusting. United were breaking when a challenge was shrugged off. Luke Clark went down clutching his head and looking in distress. The generally inept and definitely overweight ref James Adcock stopped play, only for Clark to be up as soon as the physio touched him.
Either the medical man had healing hands or Clark was cheating. I know which I think. The keeper Paul Rachubka also auditioned for panto trying to get a U's forward into trouble. Even I joined in the chant of "you're just a team full of w*****s".
Therefore I was delighted when James Constable glanced home from a corner and Peter Leven added the second 11 minutes from time. Alfie Potter was the best footballer on show by a mile in my humble opinion.
I dived out five minutes from time, finding the return bus stop with remarkably little trouble and caught the bus back to the station and managed to get the 22:11 back to the smoke. I fell asleep in an instant and only woke properly as we pulled into Paddington. I was home and in bed for midnight.
In short it had been a dreadful game, a decent new ground amongst friendly home fans.
The photos of the Manor Ground have been taken from the internet as I didn't take a camera on my visit and the ground was demolished by the time I got round to taking them elsewhere.
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