Oxford United

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Oxford United
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Basic data
Surname Oxford United Football Club
Seat Oxford
founding 1893
Colours yellow blue
Board EnglandEngland Sumrith Thanakarnjanasuth
Website oufc.co.uk
First soccer team
Head coach EnglandEngland Karl Robinson
Venue Kassam Stadium
Places 12,500
league EFL League One
2019/20 4th Place
home
Away

Oxford United (officially: Oxford United Football Club ) - also known as The U’s or The Yellows - is an English football club based in Oxford .

The club has had an eventful history. It is the first club in England to have won a major national trophy (it won the League Cup in 1986 ) and was relegated to the Conference National . He is now back in the third-tier EFL League One.

history

Early years

The club was founded in 1893 as an amateur club under the name Headington , a year later the name was added to Headington United . Initially, the club only competed in regional championships until the club was accepted into the Southern Football League in 1949 and restructured into a professional club. In 1960 the association was given its current name.

Years of advancement

In the following two years United won the championship in the Southern Football League, whereupon the team was elected to the Fourth Division in 1962 to replace Accrington Stanley , who were bankrupt. Two 18th places was followed by promotion to the Third Division in 1965 . In 1964, the team was the first fourth division team in the history of the competition to advance to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup .

In the sixth season 1968 succeeded the championship title of the third division. There followed eight years in the Second Division before United in 1976 relegated again. In 1982 the association was taken over by the British publisher and politician Robert Maxwell . This suggested a merger with the local neighbor Reading FC to Thames Valley Royals , as the club should be called, which was not carried out after fan protests on both sides.

In 1984 United managed to return to the Second Division as third division champions. Coach Jim Smith led the team there again to the title, so that United started in 1985 for the first time in the first-class First Division . Smith then left the club to join the Queens Park Rangers . His successor Maurice Evans managed to stay relegated and led the club to win the League Cup in 1985/86 with a 3-0 win against the Queens Park Rangers. Because of the Heysel disaster , however, the club could not play in the European Cup .

In 1987 Maxwell handed the club over to his son Kevin. In the following season, relegation was missed after three years of excellence. There was excitement about Dean Saunders , who moved to Derby County , Robert Maxwell's other team.

Years of decline

It was followed by six years in the second division before United in 1994 relegated to the now third division Second Division. There came 1996 runner-up and promotion. In June 1995 the club had decided to build a new stadium, which brought the club into financial difficulties. Supporters formed the FOUL (Fighting for Oxford United's Life) initiative before Firoz Kassam took over 89.9% of the club's shares in April 1999, bringing about £ 15 million in debt for the £ 1 purchase price . In the same season, the team, some of which had to wait for their wages during the season, was second to last. In the following season, the team could not build on successful times and only managed 20th place in the Second Division, one point ahead of relegated Cardiff City . The following season was even worse: with 100 goals conceded and 33 defeats, the second worst value ever achieved by a team in the English league system, United was knocked off bottom of the table.

In 2002, after six years of uncertainty, United was able to move into their new stadium, the Kassam Stadium , named after the club's owner . Nevertheless, the team only reached 21st place in the fourth division, the worst position the club had achieved in the league system up to that point. In the following season, with eighth place, a relegation place was only missed by three points. After a good start in 2003 it looked good for the club to be able to leave the league upwards again. However, when coach Ian Atkins announced his move to rival Bristol Rovers in March and was subsequently fired, the successor Graham Rix could not continue the successful work and the club dropped to ninth place at the end of the year.

After a 15th place in 2005 and several coaching changes in the 2005/06 season United had to relegate after 44 years in the English league system. In March 2006, Kassam sold the club for £ 2 million to Nick Merry , a Florida businessman who had played for the club in the 1970s as a youth. This brought back Jim Smith, the most successful coach in the club's history. At the start of the season, 18 games went without a loss, a record for the Conference National . The game against FC Woking on Boxing Day saw 11,065 spectators, the highest number of spectators in a game at the Football Conference.

Established in the Conference National

In the 2006/07 season Oxford reached second place in the Conference National with 81 points and thus qualified for the playoff games for promotion to Football League Two . After Oxford had narrowly won the first leg of the semi-finals against Exeter City , the team lost 2-1 in the second leg and lost the decisive penalty shoot-out. Eventually Exeter reached the final and Oxford missed promotion to League Two. In the following season, the team finished 9th and was ten points behind fifth-placed Burton Albion . In the 2008/09 season Oxford was again one of the best teams in the league and would have reached the playoffs with fifth place in the Conference National, but the club was deducted five points due to an ineligible player. Oxford fell to seventh place and thus out of the playoff ranks.

Also in the 2009/10 season, the team played again for promotion. The team earned a total of 86 points over the course of the season and reached third place, which entitled to the playoff games for promotion to Football League Two. In the semifinals, Rushden & Diamonds were defeated after a 1-1 draw with a 2-0 win in the second leg. The final game on May 16, 2010 against York City at Wembley Stadium were counted 38,957 spectators, the game ended with a 3-1 win for Oxford and the associated return to the following season in the fourth-highest division.

Return to League One

After several seasons in midfield of Football League Two, often characterized by good starts followed by frequent defeats in a row, Oxford managed to return to the third highest division, League One, in the 2015/16 season under the new coach Michael Appleton.

successes

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Oxford vs. Woking ( Memento of March 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ Five-point deduction for Oxford
  3. ↑ bbc.co.uk: Oxford United 3-1 York City (May 16, 2010) , accessed January 17, 2019