Oxford United is an English professional association football club based in Oxford, Oxfordshire. They play in The Championship, the second level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 season. The club was formed in 1893 as Headington United, [1] before changing its name (to Oxford United) in 1960, [2] and has played home matches at two stadiums throughout its history, the Manor Ground until 2001, and the Kassam Stadium since. In 1986 they won their only major [A] trophy, the League Cup. The club joined the Oxfordshire Senior League in 1921, before joining the Spartan League in 1947. [3] [4] Two years later the club moved to the Southern League, before being elected to the Football League in 1962. [5] Oxford spent three years in the First Division between August 1985 and May 1988. At the end of the 2005–06 season, after 44 years in the League, United were relegated to the Football Conference. They returned to the League after winning the Conference National Play-off Final in 2010. [6]
The record for most games played for the club is held by Ron Atkinson, who made 560 appearances between 1959 and 1971. John Shuker holds the record for the most appearances since they joined the Football League. Graham Atkinson is the club's record goalscorer, scoring 107 goals including 97 in the league. Jim Magilton holds the record for the most international caps gained as an Oxford player, having made 18 appearances for Northern Ireland. The highest transfer fee ever paid by the club is the £470,000 paid to Aberdeen for Dean Windass in 1998, though it has been reported that the undisclosed fee paid for Marvin Johnson in 2016 exceeded this amount, [7] and the highest fee received is the estimated £3,000,000 paid by Leeds United for Kemar Roofe in 2016. The highest attendance recorded at the Manor Ground was 22,750 for the visit of Preston North End in the FA Cup, while the highest attendance at the Kassam is 12,243 against Leyton Orient.
Oxford United's only major honour in English football is the League Cup, which the club won in the 1985–86 season, defeating Queen's Park Rangers in the final 3–0. [8] The club has also won the Third Division championship twice and the Second Division championship once. [9] The latter Third Division, Second Division and League Cup victories all occurred within the space of two years. United also achieved promotion from the Fourth Division after the 1964–65 season. Oxford's highest top-flight finish is eighteenth, which was achieved twice in two years, starting in 1986. [9] Their most recent promotion occurred after the 2023–24 season, when they beat Bolton Wanderers 2–0 in the League One play-off final to secure promotion to the EFL Championship for the first time in 25 years. [10]
Oxford's best performance in the FA Cup involved reaching the quarter-finals against Preston North End in the 1963–64 season. In doing so, they became the first team to reach that stage from the Fourth Division. [11] Before the club were admitted to the Football League in 1962, they won the Southern Football League championship on three occasions, the final win occurring the season before election into the Fourth Division, and finished runner-up twice. [9] They also won the Southern League Cup twice.
Appearances are for matches in the Football League, Conference National, Southern League, FA Cup, Football League Cup, Football League Trophy, Football League Group Cup, Anglo-Italian Cup, Full Members Cup, FA Trophy and Southern League Cup. Substitute appearances are included in brackets. Statistics correct as of 8 March 2021.
# | Name | Position | Years | Leaguea | FA Cup | League Cupb | Otherc | Total | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ron Atkinson | Midfielder | 1959–1971 | 508 (1) | 33 (0) | 18 (0) | 0 (0) | 559 (1) | [18] |
2 | John Shuker | Forward | 1962–1977 | 473 (5) | 29 (0) | 24 (0) | 3 (0) | 529 (5) | [19] |
3 | Gary Briggs | Defender | 1978–1989 | 418 (2) | 24 (0) | 50 (0) | 14 (0) | 506 (2) | [20] |
4 | Colin Clarke | Defender | 1966–1978 | 443 (1) | 23 (0) | 27 (0) | 3 (0) | 496 (1) | [21] |
5 | Cyril Beavon | Defender | 1959–1969 | 416 (2) | 27 (1) | 18 (0) | 0 (0) | 461 (3) | [22] |
6 | Les Robinson | Defender | 1990–2000 | 380 (5) | 22 (0) | 36 (0) | 16 (0) | 454 (5) | [23] |
7 | Maurice Kyle | Defender | 1959–1969 | 403 (0) | 26 (0) | 19 (0) | 0 (0) | 448 (0) | [24] |
8 | Roy Burton | Goalkeeper | 1971–1982 | 395 (0) | 16 (0) | 28 (0) | 8 (0) | 447 (0) | [25] |
9 | Joey Beauchamp | Midfielder | 1989–1994 1995–2002 | 321 (41) | 21 (3) | 26 (3) | 9 (5) | 377 (52) | [22] |
10 | Graham Atkinson | Forward | 1959–1974 | 357 (4) | 19 (0) | 17 (0) | 1 (0) | 394 (4) | [26] |
Goals are for matches in the Football League, Conference National, Southern League, FA Cup, Football League Cup, Football League Trophy, Football League Group Cup, Anglo-Italian Cup, Full Members Cup, FA Trophy, Conference League Cup and Southern League Cup. Appearances are included in brackets. Players in bold are current players. Statistics correct as of 23 May 2024.
# | Name | Position | Years | Leaguea | FA Cup | League Cupb | Otherc | Total | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Graham Atkinson | Forward | 1959–1974 | 97 (361) | 7 (19) | 3 (17) | 0 (1) | 107 (398) | [26] |
2 | James Constable | Forward | 2008–2014 | 90 (246) | 7 (15) | 2 (6) | 7 (13) | 106 (280) | [31] |
3 | Tony Jones | Midfielder | 1959–1967 | 89 (318) | 9 (24) | 2 (14) | 0 (0) | 100 (356) | [32] |
4 | John Aldridge d | Forward | 1984–1987 | 72 (114) | 2 (5) | 14 (17) | 2 (5) | 90 (141) | [33] |
5 | Peter Foley | Forward | 1975–1983 | 71 (277) | 9 (13) | 8 (27) | 2 (14) | 90 (321) | [34] |
6 | Joey Beauchamp | Midfielder | 1989–1994 1995–2002 | 64 (362) | 4 (24) | 10 (29) | 0 (14) | 78 (429) | [22] |
7 | Bud Houghton d | Forward | 1961–1963 | 69 (106) | 5 (5) | 1 (3) | 0 (0) | 75 (114) | [35] |
8 | Paul Moody | Forward | 1994–1997 2001–2002 | 63 (171) | 5 (9) | 4 (14) | 3 (3) | 75 (197) | [36] |
9 | Matty Taylor | Forward | 2007–2009 2019–2023 | 54 (123) | 4 (10) | 2 (5) | 4 (11) | 64 (138) | [37] |
10 | James Henry | Midfielder | 2017–2024 | 51 (218) | 3 (11) | 1 (9) | 3 (21) | 58 (259) | [38] |
Player | Country | Caps while at club [41] | Total caps |
---|---|---|---|
John Aldridge | Ireland | 7 | 69 |
Andre Arendse | South Africa | 11 | 67 |
Shandon Baptiste | Grenada | 3 | 3 [42] |
Jeremy Charles | Wales | 2 | 19 |
Craig Davies | Wales | 2 | 7 |
Ceri Evans | New Zealand | 7 | 85 |
Kevin Francis | St Kitts and Nevis | 2 | 2 |
Ray Gaston | Northern Ireland | 1 | 1 |
Adriel Jared George | Antigua and Barbuda | 1 | 2 |
Phil Gray | Northern Ireland | 2 | 26 |
Billy Hamilton | Northern Ireland | 6 | 41 |
Ray Houghton | Republic of Ireland | 12 | 73 |
Mick Kearns | Republic of Ireland | 1 | 18 |
Paul Kee | Northern Ireland | 7 | 9 |
Dave Langan | Republic of Ireland | 11 | 25 |
Jim Magilton | Northern Ireland | 18 | 52 |
Andy Melville | Wales | 11 | 65 |
Callum O'Dowda | Republic of Ireland | 1 [43] | 5 [44] |
Dave Roberts | Wales | 6 | 17 |
Dean Saunders | Wales | 6 | 75 |
Neil Slatter | Wales | 12 | 22 |
David Sloan | Northern Ireland | 2 | 2 |
Mark Watson | Canada | 12 | 78 |
Gavin Whyte | Northern Ireland | 4 | 10 |
# | Player | From | Fee [B] | Date | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Siriki Dembélé | Birmingham City | £1–1.5 million | August 2024 | [45] |
2 | Marvin Johnson | Motherwell | £650,000 | August 2016 | [46] [C] |
3 | Dean Windass | Aberdeen | £470,000 | July 1998 | |
4 | Colin Greenall | Gillingham | £285,000 | February 1988 | |
5 | Andy Melville | Swansea City | £275,000 | July 1990 | |
6 | David Bardsley | Watford | £265,000 | September 1987 | |
7 | Richard Hill | Watford | £260,000 | September 1987 | |
8 | John Durnin | Liverpool | £250,000 | February 1989 | |
9 | Brian Wilsterman | Beerschot | £200,000 | February 1997 | |
10 | Paul Simpson | Manchester City | £200,000 | October 1988 |
Progressive transfer fee shows the chronological order in which the record transfer fee was set, and the transfer that set it.
Date | Player | Bought from | Fee [47] |
---|---|---|---|
July 1949 | Norman Aldridge | Northampton Town | £750 |
August 1949 | Bert Kay | Bury | £1,000 |
March 1961 | Bud Houghton | Southend United | £2,000 |
August 1962 | Maurice Kyle | Wolves | £5,000 [D] |
December 1962 | Bernard Evans | QPR | £5,500 |
November 1963 | Bill Calder | Bury | £8,500 |
June 1967 | Mick Bullock | Birmingham City | £10,000 |
September 1968 | Ray Gaston | Coleraine | £12,500 |
November 1970 | Nigel Cassidy | Scunthorpe United | £20,000 |
September 1972 | Hugh Curran | Wolves | £50,000 |
July 1974 | Andy McCulloch | Cardiff City | £75,000 |
March 1982 | Trevor Hebberd | Southampton | £80,000 |
January 1984 | Peter Rhoades-Brown | Chelsea | £85,000 |
August 1984 | Billy Hamilton | Burnley | £95,000 |
February 1985 | Jeremy Charles | QPR | £100,000 |
July 1985 | Neil Slatter | Bristol Rovers | £100,000 |
September 1985 | Ray Houghton | Fulham | £147,000 |
December 1985 | Dave Leworthy | Tottenham Hotspur | £200,000 |
September 1987 | David Bardsley | Watford | £265,000 |
February 1988 | Colin Greenall | Gillingham | £285,000 |
July 1998 | Dean Windass | Aberdeen | £470,000 |
# | Player | From | Fee [E] | Date | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kemar Roofe | Leeds United | £3,000,000 | July 2016 | |
2 | Marvin Johnson | Middlesbrough | £2,500,000 | August 2017 | [48] [C] |
3 | Shandon Baptiste | Brentford | £2,250,000 | January 2020 | [49] [C] |
4 | Gavin Whyte | Cardiff City | £2,000,000 | July 2019 | [50] [C] |
5 | Rob Dickie | QPR | £1,800,000 | September 2020 | [51] [C] |
6 | Matt Elliott | Leicester City | £1,600,000 | January 1997 | |
7 | Joey Beauchamp | West Ham United | £1,000,000 | June 1994 | |
8 | Dean Saunders | Derby County | £1,000,000 | October 1988 | |
9 | Dean Windass | Bradford City | £1,000,000 | March 1999 | |
10 | Callum O'Dowda | Bristol City | £1,000,000 | July 2016 |
Progressive transfer fee shows the chronological order in which the record transfer fee was set, and the transfer that set it.
Date | Player | Bought from | Fee [47] [52] |
---|---|---|---|
January 1951 | Cliff Nugent | Cardiff City | £2,500 |
October 1963 | Bud Houghton | Lincoln City | £6,000 |
February 1968 | George Kerr | Scunthorpe United | £7,000 |
October 1968 | Mick Bullock | Leyton Orient | £10,000 |
June 1970 | Jim Barron | Nottingham Forest | £35,000 |
February 1974 | John Evanson | Blackpool | £40,000 |
February 1975 | Dave Roberts | Hull City | £70,000 |
November 1980 | Les Taylor | Watford | £100,000 |
March 1982 | Keith Cassells | Southampton | £115,000 |
March 1982 | Mark Wright | Southampton | £115,000 |
January 1987 | John Aldridge | Liverpool | £775,000 |
October 1987 | Ray Houghton | Liverpool | £825,000 |
October 1988 | Dean Saunders | Derby County | £1,000,000 |
January 1997 | Matt Elliott | Leicester City | £1,600,000 |
July 2016 | Kemar Roofe | Leeds United | £3,000,000 |
A. ^ In this instance a major trophy refers to either the First Division/Premier League, the FA Cup or the League Cup.
B. ^ Unless otherwise stated, Statistics taken from Brodetsky. Oxford United: The Complete Record, p. 365
C. ^ Figures were undisclosed, but are believed to have been in the region of the amount stated.
D. ^ Maurice Kyle was previously on loan from Wolves.
E. ^ Unless otherwise stated, Statistics taken from Brodetsky. Oxford United: The Complete Record, p. 366
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