Rather futuristic outside of the Kassam Stadium Photo © 2004 Ciderspace

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 a new 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 was built, although the money ran out before all four sides were completed, and named after then chairman Kassam.

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 later said, 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.

Rix only lasted until the November of the following season, and the club then made the bizarre appointment of Ramon Diaz. What he knew about lower league football in England was hard to ascertain as he spoke no English. He didn't make the end of the season. Oxford then decided that Brian Talbot (titter ye not - oh, go on then, just a small snigger if you must) was the man to take them back to the glory days. Unsurprisingly, he wasn't. If fact by the time they got rid of him - and Kassam as well, in a bitter battle - the U's were already well on the way to relegation back out of the Football League. The new owner brought club legend Jim Smith back, but Oxford were already doomed and duly descended into Non-league in 2006.

The supposed experts and the fans all assumed Oxford would stroll back out of the tin-pot Conference at the first time of asking. Those with eyes to see saw a club in a mess from years of instability and incompetent management on and off the pitch. They also had the ridiculous situation of the new 'owner', Nick Merry, only controlling the club itself. The stadium and all the infrastructure remained in the hands of Kassam. Smith's team was overhauled by Dagenham & Redbridge for the title and automatic promotion spot, then blew a 2-0 advantage in the play-offs at the semi-final stage. The 2007-08 season again started well, but started to fall away. Smith was moved upstairs and Darren Patterson take over. This time they couldn't even make the play-offs, finishing 9th. Patterson paid the price shortly into the 2008-09 season and the next man in was Chris Wilder. This time they finished 7th, though without a 5 point deduction for fielding an ineligible player they would have squeaked into the play-offs.

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

Now, at the fourth time of asking, Oxford do seem to have got their act together, currently leading the Conference Premier by eight points.

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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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Away supporters area in the North Stand Photo © 2004 Ciderspace

On previous visits we've chosen to park in the nearby village of Sandford-on-Thames and take the walk, which is about a mile.

By Rail

Oxford Station, at four miles distance, is too far from the ground to contemplate walking. A taxi will cost approximately a tenner, or a regular bus service is available, see link below.

By Bus

Various bus services are available from the centre of Oxford - click here for more details.

There is a 106 Bus that runs from the Railway Station to the Kassam Stadium as follows:
Oxford Rail Station 12:30, Oxford High Street Bus stop L1 12:38, Littlemore George 12:50, Sandford Catherine Wheel 12:53, Kassam Stadium 12:58. The same service also travels an hour later, leaving at 13:30 and arriving at 13:58. The return after the game is at 17:00 and 18:00. See here for the full set of times.

There is also a 602 Football Special bus mainly aimed at local Oxford residents that is a one-off affair running from Kidlington to the Kassam Stadium as follows:
Kidlington, Grovelands 13:40, Kidlington, Garden City 13:45, Banbury Road, Harefields 13:50, Summertown, South Parade 13:53, Marston (Headley Way Foot) 14:00, Headington, Windmill Road 14:10, The Slade, Wood Farm Road 14:15, Stadium 14:30. The same bus does a reverse trip at 17:00hrs.

The City5 service to Blackbird Leys estate, getting off at Knights Road, is another convenient option.

By Taxi

A selection of Oxford taxi companies can be found here.

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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 featured 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 an easy job.

There're also a couple of bars in the retail/leisure development that has been springing up around the area: one in the Holiday Inn Express Hotel and another in Ozone, a cinema and bowling complex. They serve exactly what one would expect - mainstream fizzy brands at high prices - but are open to well behaved football types.

George Inn: Was Morrells, then became Gales and is now Fullers - all in a few years. Pubs that change hands this frequently are not generally promising. The pub is roughly U-shaped around a central bar, split into a couple of rooms. The public bar has a pool table and Sky TV, and there is a more foody lounge area with alcoves. 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. Possibly the best pub in Littlemore itself - though that's not saying much at all. 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. A Chef & Brewer offering, which isn't saying much, though the beer has reportedly improved a bit with Youngs/Charles Wells on offer whereas back on our last visit to the Kassam all it had was Courage. 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, a pool table, and plenty of notices reminding customers not to buy, sell, or use drugs on the premises. No real ale. 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 was Brakspear, but recent reports imply it has stopped serving real ale. The Catherine Wheel, Henley Road, Sandford-on-Thames, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX4 4YP. 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. Update: Reported this pub has now closed. If so, who'd have thought, eh? Take a format that has worked for close on a century, p*ss it up against the wall, and then wonder why your business goes tits up in double quick time. Morons. 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 was (still is?) owned by club ex-chairman Firoz Kassam, and acts as a sort of unofficial supporters clubhouse on matchdays. We've come across no reports of problems for away fans, but it does get crowded. It has a large screen for Sky TV, a standard range of fizzy stuff including lagers, Strongbow Cider and keg Tetleys, and a wide range of pies and rolls type fodder. The Guinness was good when we went in on our last visit to the stadium, but it was a long 20 or so minute wait to get served. Note that they no longer do real ale there by handpump - the best you'll get is bottled London Pride, Bombardier and Spitfire. For the 2009-10 FA Cup match, they plan to cope with the larger than usual crowd by erecting a temporary Marquee bar - Yeovil fans should feel right at home there then. 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.

Top-Tip :

Get there early if you're driving and don't wish to walk. Once the car parking is full there's nowhere else close to (legally) park.

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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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