Oxford United Football Club - The U's

Oxford United History

2005-06 Season

23rd, Relegated from League Two
League Cup: 1st Round, Gillingham a. 0-1
FA Cup: 2nd Round replay, Cheltenham Town h. 1-2
LDV Vans: Quarter Final, Cheltenham Town a. 1-2

Highlight:
3-0 win over Notts County 26/12/05

Low Spot:
2-3 home defeat to Leyton Orient confirming relegation 6/5/06

Good:
Chris Willmott
Fought gamely at the back to keep his side out of trouble but eventually found the task beyond him.
Set an example to few could follow.
Chris Hargreaves
Another to emerge with some credit and whose effort could not be faulted. Worked hard in midfield and slipped in some decent service to the forwards although there is still room for improvement in that department.

In Brief:
Oxford had a steady start to the season and a 1-0 win over Carlisle left them 6th after 13 games.
The club also enjoyed a decent Christmas period but then a run of no wins and five defeats in ten games culminating in a serious defeat at Stockport left them in deep trouble.
A 2-0 win over Barnet gave the U's a three point cushion over the relegation places but a tally of one point from the final four games spelled disaster.
The fact that relegation came after a home defeat to Orient who therefore celebrated promotion made the clubs' fall from grace even more galling.
Lack of firepower was perhaps the biggest single factor behind relegation and is something that must surely be addressed if a quick return to the league is to be achieved.

Oxford United Football Club was formed in 1893 although it was not until 1960 that the club changed to this name. Previously it had been known as Headington in its first year and then Headington United.

It was only after World War Two that the club began to gain recognition. It was elected into the Southern League in 1949 and won the championship of that league for the first time in 1953. The following year Oxford reached the 4th round of the FA Cup before losing to Bolton Wanderers.

Oxford were elected into Division Four of the Football League in 1962 after the demise of Accrington Stanley and the club made quite an impact. In 1964 they reached the quarter finals of the FA Cup after defeating Chesterfield, Brentford and Blackburn Rovers. In the last eight they went down to a 2-1 home defeat against Preston North End in front of a club record crowd of 22,730.

The following season saw Oxford promoted to Division Three and in 1968 they won the third division championship to climb into Division Two.

The U's held that station for eight seasons before slipping to relegation in 1976. After threatening a promotion bid in the two previous seasons Oxford romped to the third division championship in 1984 under Jim "the Bald Eagle" Smith.

This side included the defensive stalwarts Gary Briggs and Malcolm Shotton, the dangerous midfielders Andy Thomas, Kevin Brock and George Lawrence as well as the ex Southampton striker Trevor Hebberd.

Remarkably the club pushed on and stormed straight through to the first division after winning the Division Two title in 1985, John Aldridge setting a club scoring record with 30 league goals for the season.

This success continued as Oxford claimed the League Cup in 1986. They knocked out Northampton Town, Newcastle United, Norwich City, Portsmouth and Aston Villa before outplaying Queens Park Rangers in the final to win 3-0, the goals coming from Hebberd, Ray Houghton and Jeremy Charles.

This standard could not be maintained, however, and Oxford were relegated from the top flight in 1988, managing to reach the League Cup semi finals again the same year only to lose on a 3-1 aggregate to Luton Town.

Six seasons of mainly struggling in the second tier of English football ended with relegation in 1994 but Oxford rallied to win promotion back to that level in 1996.

Relegation in 1999 proved far more damaging, however, and the club dropped into the basement of the Football League in 2001. The clubs' fortunes have fluctuated in the fourth tier since but they remain a League Two side at the time of writing and will be hoping to progress in a fine new stadium.

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