Tuesday 18th February 2025 ko 19:45

EFL League 1

WYCOMBE WANDERERS 2 ( Humphreys 5 Udoh 58)

BRISTOL ROVERS 0

Forde sent off 82 (serious foul play)

Att 4,419 (419 away)

Entry £31 (middle 3 blocks, top tier Frank Adams stand)

As an Oxford United fan I’m all too aware that when we play Wycombe Wanderers it gets seen as some kind of local derby. I can understand why, the closest EFL ground to Grenoble Road is Adams Park. But to Oxford United fans the derby is with sw!ndon town, with any other team it’s a rivalry.

The perfect example of this concerned the away side here. For Bristol Rovers the derby is Bristol City but since the two sides haven’t played each other since 2013 the teams have cultivated rivalries with teams they’ve played more regularly. City with Cardiff and Rovers with sw!ndon – it would appear noone likes them! I noted with a smile that the visiting fans sang about how much they hated Bristol City- that is the nature of a derby and no I haven’t heard an Oxford fan utter a word about Wycombe since promotion!

With Oxford and Wycombe is doesn’t help that the clubs didn’t meet until fairly recently, 1994 to be precise. The reason was that the two clubs had followed different historical paths. Headington United turned professional in 1949 and changed names to Oxford United in 1960, whilst Wycombe stuck to amateurism even beyond its abolition in 1974 and even turned down membership of the Alliance Premier League (now the National League Premier) 3 times in 1979, 1981 and 1983. It’s fair to say that when the club did see the way forward in 1985 they grasped it with both hands and the club under Martin O’Neill won the Conference in 1993 and with it League membership.

The rivalry has led to no end of memorable moments, such as Oxford winning promotion to League 1 against Wycombe at home in 2016, and at Adams Park Oxford’s Stuart Massey dangling from the crossbar celebrating an away win during our 1996 promotion charge. From a Wycombe perspective they beat us at Wembley in 2010 to gain promotion to the Championship. Wycombe manager at the time Gareth Ainsworth always did have the Indian sign over Oxford manager Karl Robinson and the great sadness of that Wembley win is that it was behind closed doors due to Covid.

But what I’ll always remember Adams Park for is the curious case of Hubert Busby Junior. Back in 2000-2001 I’d argue Oxford had their worst ever season, at its end being relegated from what’s now called League 1 with just 27 points, 10 fewer than Swansea City who finished second from bottom, and a horrifying 25 points from safety. It really wasn’t the time or the club to be a goalkeeper (100 goals conceded in 46 games) and perhaps that’s why the club cast its net wide for a back-up goalkeeper, as far as it happened to Portugal.

Hubert Busby Junior, a Canadian-Jamaican was playing in the Portuguese third divison before arriving at The Manor, and was promptly doing no more than training as it took a month for the rather complicated international clearance to be granted. I don’t think anyone really expected him to play, but in September Oxford were at Wycombe and regular keeper Richard Knight was injured during the first half and was unable to continue after half time. Busby replaced him, but his top was blue, not ideal when you’re playing a side playing in sky and navy blue quarters. An unedifying delay occurred while a red training top was found, and while it was an honest mistake, it was an embarrassing one. The match was televised on Sky! Oxford lost 2-1, which was no surprise, Busby saved a late penalty but was judged to have encroached and the retaken penalty was scored. That half was Busby’s only action in the UK, and he’s now manager of the Jamaican women’s national team, not it has to be said without some scandal!

For a stadium that has only existed since 1990 Adams Park has the club’s rise there for all to see. As you reach the stadium’s perimeter look to your right and find the gates from Loakes Park, Wycombe’s former home. The land for that ground was donated to the club by Frank Adams, hence why the current ground bears his name, and the sale of the old ground with its famous slope to expand Wycombe Hospital is what financed the building of Adams Park.

Given when they moved in the club was 3 seasons prior to EFL membership look at the stand opposite the double-deck stand and the home terracing behind the far goal. Those stands are original features with the stands opposite originally their facsimiles. If you’ve ever been to Chester City’s Deva Stadium, you’ll know what I mean. That opened the year before Adams Park and to a very similar design. The ground held 6,000 the minimum necessary for EFL membership at the time. Those two remaining unaltered stands are classic examples of “Atcost” stands; please don’t confuse Atcosts with the little metal “Arena” stands seen in so many newer non-league grounds.

The two tier Frank Adams stand dates from 1996 replacing the stand in the iconic Stuart Roy Clarke “John Motson in the snow” photo. The Hillbottom Road End, used by away fans was extended by 997 seats to a capacity of 2,026 in 2001 leaving the ground in the odd position of its Main Stand having the lowest capacity! The current capacity of the ground is a shade over 10,000.

The great quirk of Adams Park is also its flaw. The ground sits at one end of Hillbottom Road, a cul de sac and so everyone arrives and leaves from one corner. That has massive implications as to how far the club can develop the stadium, and its likely that the club would need to move if a larger capacity were needed. That is a contributing factor as to why Wasps RUFC ended their 12 year stay at Adams Park in 2014, although I’m bound to stay their stay in Coventry wasn’t exactly successful!

It’s also worth mentioning that Oxford United had agreed a short-term groundshare here in 2021 when negotiations with Firoka over the Kassam Stadium lease broke down. The lease that did get signed finishes in 2026 so even if United do get planning permission for the Triangle development near to Oxford Parkway station they’ll need either a short-term extention to the lease or a groundshare. Would 10,000 be enough capacity for a Championship club?

It was easy to sell this game to my wife Robyn, a Bristol City fan as Wycombe were second in the table with visitors Bristol Rovers struggling against relegation, and we all know how much Bristol City hate Bristol Rovers and vice versa! Sadly injury meant hot shot Richard Kone was missing, we’d seen him play and be sent off for Athletic Newham back in 2020. But Wycombe won this one straightforwardly enough, they had far too much clever movement in midfield for Rovers, and Shaq Ford’s challenge leading to his red card was dreadful.

There was one thought I left with, perhaps more an observation. Wycombe have a side to be proud of this season so only attracting 4,000 home patrons for this game is disappointing, maybe I’ve answered that question about the Championship. I fully expect Wycombe to be in it next season.

My thanks to Russell Cox for his help with where to park.