Rather futuristic outside of the Kassam Stadium Photo © 2004 Ciderspace

Headington United were formed in 1893 and for the first half-century and more of the club's life were a typical local amateur team playing in local leagues. The club's transformation into the Oxford United we all know and er, well, they're fans love then I'm sure, began in 1949 with the U's election to the Southern League. Over the next decade Headington established themselves as one of the premier non-league sides in the country and in 1960 the club changed their name to Oxford United in order to give themselves a nationally recognised identity and to appeal to football supporters in the city of Oxford itself. Three Southern League title wins later meant that the club were in an ideal position to improve their status and when Accrington Stanley folded in 1962 Oxford United were elected to the Football League in their place.

After three years consolidating in Division Four the club won promotion to Division Three and then won the Third Division title itself in 1968. Eight seasons in the Second Division followed before eventual relegation back down to the Third and the hard financial times that followed, with the club in real danger of bankruptcy before being taken over by controversial multi-millionaire Robert Maxwell in 1982.

The beginning of the Maxwell era brought a period of unprecedented success for the U's. Managed by Jim Smith, Oxford won the Third Division Championship title in the 1983-84 season, to be followed by the Second Division title, and promotion to the top flight of English football - the first time that Oxford had ever reached such heights - a year later. Three seasons in the First Division followed, including an unprecedented League Cup final win, beating QPR 3-0 in front of over 90,000 at Wembley.

Main or South Stand at the Kassam Photo © 2004 Ciderspace

That was the end of the halcyon days for Oxford however and relegation from the top flight, followed by the death of chairman Maxwell in 1992, led to more financial problems. Added to the difficulties faced by the club was the fact that their original home, the Manor Ground, was well past its sell-by-date and needed substantial investment to meet the recommendations of the Taylor Report.

After several changes of ownership current chairman Firoz Kassam took over the club in 1999 and immediately began pushing through plans for a brand new stadium on the outskirts of the city. Relegation to Division Two followed however, and although the club managed to stay in the Second Division for one more season a second relegation soon followed, the club slipping into the basement after their last season at the Manor Ground. The new stadium has now been built, although the money ran out before all four sides were completed, and named after the current chairman.

In 2003-04 Oxford were strong favourites for a promotion place. They played what some would call an uncompromising style, others would simply say ugly, under Ian Atkins. Strong in defence, and even though limited in attack, they seemed to have the right credentials. However all was not well behind the scenes as friction and then open confrontation broke out between manager and chairman. Whatever Atkins says now, and never was a manager more adept than Atkins at putting a glowing spin on his record, Oxford were already badly on the slide well before Kassam suspended him for openly negotiating a new job with Bristol Rovers before the season was over. Graham Rix was the new man, with a very different philosophy of football. It was never likely to work in the short term with the team Atkins had collected, and the slide continued with Oxford eventually finishing out even of the play-offs.

Away supporters area in the North Stand Photo © 2004 Ciderspace

Prediction corner:
One of the bigger clubs in League Two (they were paying close to half a million pounds for a player only six years ago), Oxford have finished just short of the play-offs two seasons in a row. Although it's his first full season the pressure will be on Graham Rix to deliver a play-off place as an absolute minimum. Much of Atkins' team has moved on and Rix has been busy bringing in his own players, including some big name signings like Lee Bradbury and Tommy Mooney. Much will depend on how quickly this team gells. We think not quickly enough. Oxford to start slowly and build, but not high enough for automatic promotion. Squeaking into the play-offs in 7th.

Stop Press :
And looks like we called that one wrongly. A poorish start to the campaign that then turned dismal saw Kassam's patience soon run out with Rix, and he was shuffled off into obscurity 'upstairs'. The new man in is Ramon Diaz, who arrived from Argentina in December with two coaches, a physio, a doctor and two translators on a six month deal. It could be an inspired appointment - or a joke. We suspect a joke.

East stand, behind the goal That's it, there is no West Stand Photo © 2004 Ciderspace

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FORTHCOMING FIXTURES

CLUB GOALSCORERS

Name

LGE

FAC

FAT

LGC

CC

Total

ATTENDANCE STATISTICS

Highest League Attendance: 0, vs ,
Lowest League Attendance: 999999, vs ,
Average League Attendance: Not Applicable

CURRENT LEAGUE SEQUENCE STATISTICS

Games Without A Win:	0		Games Without A Home Win:	0
Games Without An Away Win:	0		Games Without Defeat:	0
Games Without A Home Defeat:	0		Games Without An Away Defeat:	0
Games Without A Draw:	0		Games Without A Score Draw:	0
Games Without A No-Score Draw:	0		Games Without Scoring:	0
Games Without Conceding:	0		Home Results Sequence:
Away Results Sequence:			Overall Results Sequence:

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Local Pubs :

Oxford is a contrasting mixture. The historic centre, overflowing with students and tourists, is stuffed full of ancient pubs, a few still excellent, most overly precious, all tending to the expensive. The sort that feature in every episode of Inspector Morse. If you do choose to drink in the city centre remember the ground is miles away, and traffic throughout Oxford a complete nightmare, so give yourself plenty of time to make kick-off. The fringes of Oxford, especially to the South where the new Kassam Stadium is, are industrial, with sprawling huge estates, many products of the very worst of Sixties and Seventies planning. The pubs there mostly tend to reflect their location.

Oxford once boasted one of the better independent breweries in Morrells. But a group of cretins were in control. As they were mindless fools they jumped on the Pub.co bandwagon, and sold off the brewery side to Thomas Hardy Brewery in Dorchester (formerly Eldridge Pope, who were doing exactly the same thing with their brewing and pub sides - ****ing them up) and concentrated on ripping the guts out of their stable of pubs. Their design concepts stretched to three : which is the least puke making is open to debate. There is the olde worlde "rustic"; nautical (how much further from the sea can you get than Oxford?!); and Upstairs Downstairs Victorian / Edwardian kitsch. B*st*rds like this should have the mass produced fake sh*te they litter over every available surface in their pubs shoved into any open orifice. They made such a screw up of what one would think was a relatively simple task of running a chain of pubs that lots were in turn sold on to Greene King, and now don't even stock Morrells beers. We've tried to find a few reasonably close to the ground that shouldn't be instantly raised by a bulldoser, but it's not been an easy job.

George Inn: Large, multi-room Morrells pub, and one which seems to have escaped the very worst of the Nu-Morrells make-over package. The pub is roughly U-shaped around a central bar. The public bar has a pool table and Sky TV, and there is a foody lounge area with alcoves. Feels more genuine than most pubs 'smartened up' in this way. There's a large beer garden, with Aunt Sally played. I lived in Oxford for a while, and Aunt Sally is a traditional pub game in the area that makes the bizarre rituals of the West Country appear sane. Probably the best pub in Littlemore itself - though that's not saying too much. George Inn, 5, Sandford Road, Littlemore, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX4 4PU. Tel: 01865 779341. Map: Click Here.

King's Arms: Huge pub in a lovely location down on the Thames at Sandford Pool. Much more interested in food than beer, with the now dire Courage Best its er, best offering. Nice for kids though, with a big garden and play area. King's Arms, Church Road, Sandford-on-Thames, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX4 4YB. Tel: 01865 777095. Map: Click Here.

The Blackbird: The second closest pub to the ground, and very busy on match days. On the Blackbird Leys Estate, which is one of the media's favourite "A Mini-Beirut in England" targets when other news is slow. The pub is quite large, with an L-shaped lounge and a bar to the back ("no overalls or work boots"), and a bit tatty in places. Hot bar snacks available. There's Sky TV showing sports on a small screen, a pool table, and plenty of notices reminding customers not to buy, sell, or use drugs on the premises. Not a pub to shoot your mouth off in, but then if you are the type that does you can probably find trouble in the Savoy Hotel as well. The Blackbird, Blackbird Leys Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX4 6HW. Tel: 01865 712496. Map: Click Here.

The Catherine Wheel © Martin Baker The Catherine Wheel: Just a few steps further away from the ground than The Fox. The pub is split into a main lounge, a side dining room to the right of the door, with a pool table area to the back of the pub. The food was of the pie and chips type - nothing wrong with it, but nothing to enthuse about either. There is a big screen. The beer is Brakspear. The Catherine Wheel, Henley Road, Sandford-on-Thames, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX4 4YP. Map: Click Here.

The Famous Bullnose Morris: Another five minutes or so walk further away from the ground than the Blackbird. A typical new style 'family' pub with fake 'rustic' look, with all the features one would expect: car park, beer garden, satellite TV, some real ale (the increasingly dull standard Greene King package of Speckled Hen etc.), airline style food (in a separate dining area if you want), pool table, childrens play area, baby changing area, disabled facilities, non-smoking area. Presumably this is what the Great British Public wants, given every other pub in the land seems to have had an identical make-over, but they are so ****ing BORING....... Actually given the utter mess the brewing and Pub.co industry has got itself into, maybe it ISN'T what the GBP wants - just a thought for you sad thrusting young exective suits in the industry, trying to wreck the very thing that made British pubs such an institution : that every one of the 60,000 or whatever used to be different and unique. The Famous Bullnose Morris, Watlington Road, Cowley, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX4 6SS. Tel: 07050 643501. Map: Click Here.

The Fox © Hugh Gleave The Fox: On the fringes of Oxford, in a 'village' that hasn't quite been swallowed up by the city yet, this small two room pub had been run by the same family since 1919. It's about 15-20 minutes walk or a few minutes drive from the ground. It does no food at all, but attracted its customers by serving up the best Morrells for miles around, Oxford and Varsity were tapped straight out the barrels round the back. However it had changed hands recently, and the direction the new owners intend to take the pub in is not clear, but it doesn't look promising. Sadly the Morrells had already disappeared when we called in. The Fox, 25, Henley Road, Sandford-on-Thames, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX4 4YN. Tel: 01865 777803. Map: Click Here.

The Priory and......? - not the usual look for a football club social © Hugh Gleave The Priory and......?: This is the pub closest to the ground - in a turning off Grenoble Road, just behind the club carpark. And yes, that really is its name. It is owned by club chairman Firoz Kassam, and acts as a temporary supporters club. We've come across no reports of problems for away fans, but it does get crowded. It has a large screen for Sky TV, hand pump Tetleys (for what that's worth) as well as a standard range of fizzy stuff, and a wide range of pies and rolls type fodder. The Guinness is recommended. The Priory and......?, Priory Lane, Littlemore, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX4 4YY. Tel: 01865 779289. Map: Click Here.

William Morris: The nearest Wetherspoon to the ground, across the other side of the ring road on the edge of Littlemore and Cowley. William Morris, 4, Pound Way, Cowley, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX4 3LR. Tel: 01865 335950. Map: Click Here.

Likelihood the Natives Will Understand You :

Don't expect to find many university professors in this area of Oxford striking up conversations about nuclear physics or Renaissance art. Do expect "Wanna smack", or alternatively "Got any smack?"

Top-Tip :

Get there early if you're driving. The car park holds 1,100. Once full, 75 mins before kick-off on average, there's nowhere else close to (legally) park............. May be easier this year as Oxford's poor form means crowds are well down so far.

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[No responsibilty is taken for any inaccuracies. This page is entirely the product of bias and prejudice.]

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