Tag Archives: oxford united.

The Other Half

22 Monday Dec 2014

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Thursday 18th December 2014 ko 19.00

FA Youth Cup 3rd Round

MANCHESTER CITY 2 (Wood 26 Celina 90)

OXFORD UNITED 0

Att 476 at Academy Stadium, City Football Academy, Ethihad Complex, Manchester

Entry FREE

Teamsheet FREE

When Oxford’s United’s Youth team beat local rivals swindon town in the last round the assumption was that the away game would be played where Manchester City play most of their non-first XI games, Hyde FC’s Ewen Fields. That in itself would have been interesting, the club were Hyde UNITED when I went, and the stadium was predominantly red, both of which changed when City pumped in some of the oil billions. Now City have gone I wonder if the United and red will return? Continue reading →

The Barnett Formula

14 Sunday Dec 2014

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Saturday 13th December 2014 ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Jones 70og Barnett 90)

BURY 1 (Mayor 63)

Att 6,912 (215 away)

Entry- Season Ticket, my guest FREE

Programme £3 (incl Oxford Mail)

There are several strands to my footballing life, what I travel to watch personally is often different from what I’d organise a groundhop to, and I the only club I watch with any degree of regularity is my home-town team Oxford United. Perhaps the great irony of my existence is that the further the club slid down the footballing pecking order the more creditability I gained in my groundhopping life!

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Priorities

20 Thursday Nov 2014

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Tuesday 18th November 2014 ko 19.30

FA Youth Cup 2nd Round

OXFORD UNITED 3 (Graham 14 45 George 20p)

swindon town 2 (McCormack 83 Oulridge 85)

Att 727

Entry £5

Programme 50p

If, perchance you are an Oxford United fan there is a prescribed order when it comes to local rivals. In strict order it goes like this,

 
  1. Swindon Town
  2. Swindon Town Reserves
  3. Swindon Town Youth team
  4. Swindon Town Ladies,

and so on…

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The Absolutely Blindingly Obvious

15 Wednesday Oct 2014

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Tuesday 7th October 2014 ko 19.00

Northern Premier League Premier Division

BARWELL 2 (Castle 18p Barlone 55)

ILKESTON 1 (Adams 11)

Att 176

Entry £10

Programme £2

The more you delve into the act of watching, “Football wherever it may be,” you soon end up with illogical statistics. Why would I watch more football in Sweden for example than I have in Scotland? But it’s the individual ground visits where the really strange quirks lie. Continue reading →

The Bigger Picture

27 Sunday Jul 2014

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Thursday 24th July 2014 ko 19.30

Pre-Season Friendly

ABINGDON TOWN 1 (Lightwood 75)

OXFORD UNITED XI 10 (O’Dowda 16 Long 27 52 56 Roberts 32 45 Bevans 35 Culley 64 Hawtin 87)

Att c350

Entry & Programme £5

So Oxford United’s development squad ran up 10 goals against a North Berkshire League outfit, and genuinely that isn’t the story at all. In Oxfordshire few clubs have fallen as rapidly and as far as Town in recent years. I remember seeing Town playing in the Isthmian League Division One (then just 2 promotions from the Football League) but now find themselves, in theory, seven promotions from their guests’ status. But where did it all go wrong?

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Self-Esteem

16 Wednesday Jul 2014

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Saturday 10th July 2014 ko 14.00

Pre-season Friendly

FARNBOROUGH 1 (Lucas Enrique 77)

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Roberts 71 Ashby 76)

Att 278

Entry £10

Programme £1.50

Sometimes you re-visit a ground and find the place almost completely different from your previous visit. My first visit to Cherrywood Road, I’m sorry but I can’t get used to Paddy Power Park, was during Graham Westley’s time as owner/manager here. Continue reading →

Empathy

09 Friday May 2014

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Saturday 3rd May 2014 ko 15.00

League 2

NORTHAMPTON TOWN 3 (Marquis 29 Toney 33 Kouo-Doumbe 50)

OXFORD UNITED 1 (Williams 6) Williams sent off 19 (violent conduct)

Att 7,529 (1,358 away)

Entry £19

Programme £3

I’ve watched my team lose their league status, and its a perfectly horrible experience, and one I wouldn’t wish on any fan (well perhaps Swindon, but that’s tribal!). The Conference may well be a quasi-League 3 but the process of falling into it still hurts a lot. 6 months ago, Northampton were racing favourites to take that drop, sacked manager Aidy Boothroyd, recruited Oxford United’s Chris Wilder more here, and went into this game out of the relegation zone for the first time this year, needing a point to guarantee League football.

In contrast Oxford had been in the play-off positions virtually all season, but since Wilder’s departure form had slumped with the club destined to finish 8th whatever the result. They had nothing but pride to play for, but the Cobblers’ conundrum was as follows. If they lost and either Wycombe or Bristol Rovers won, they were down, so how the club decided to stage the game surprised me.

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The Nightwatchman

23 Sunday Mar 2014

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Friday 21st March 2014 ko 19.45

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 1 (Connolly 77)

HARTLEPOOL UNITED 0

Att 4,954 (185 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (inc Oxford Mail)

Sometimes its wonderful how things conspire to help you. With Oxford’s game away at Southend on Monday televised, this fixture was moved forward a day to allow the team a little time to recover and me to plan another destination for tomorrow. The move didn’t help the Hartlepool fans, and all credit to those who make the trip, and it didn’t help Ian Lenagan the Oxford United chairman either. Continue reading →

Quality

16 Sunday Feb 2014

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Saturday 15th February 2014 ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 3 (Connolly 27 Wroe 53 Smalley 68)

MANSFIELD TOWN 0

Att 5,108 (365 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (inc’ Oxford Mail)

Its been a good week to look at sport as a whole. I do enjoy the Olympic games, and like many others I watched agog as Lizzie Yarnold won gold for Team GB in the Skeleton Bobsleigh. I’m not sure why I enjoy watching the sports that I don’t know intimately, but there’s something visceral about throwing yourself down an ice tube on a tray with your chin an inch from the ice. Of course she won by just under a second over 4 runs, a massive margin, but it was the way she conducted herself afterwards that impressed me. Calm, collected and respectful she is a credit to herself, her country and her sport, and watching her interview you could imagine a legion of young girls taking up sport with her as their inspiration. I fact a few hours later I saw a tweet of a 5 year-old girl, face down on a skateboard wearing her brothers cycle helmet. It’s a powerful, positive message, and one I hope will be repeated many, many times. Continue reading →

3rd Time Unlucky

13 Thursday Feb 2014

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Tuesday 12th February 2014 ko 19.45

Oxfordshire Senior Cup Quarter-Final

THAME UNITED 0 Lynch sent off 24 (serious foul play)

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Hawtin 20 71)

Att 171

Entry £5

Programme £1

My football season really isn’t complete without a trip to Thame United, they’re a decent bunch, and I wish we’d managed to pay the ASM Stadium a visit before the Hellenic hops finished, but league politics put paid to that idea. Still, I’ve managed to visit for local cup finals, and of course Thame United home games! I remember Chinnor borrowing the ground for last year’s quarter-final against Oxford United in this competition. It was cold then, and well, some things don’t change! Continue reading →