List of Oxford United F.C. seasons

For the current season, see 2020–21 Oxford United F.C. season.

Oxford United Football Club is an English association football club originally formed in 1893 under the name Headington United. The club played in local Oxfordshire leagues until being elected into the Southern League in 1949. It was at this time the club turned professional. The club adopted its present name in 1960 and was elected into the Football League in 1962, replacing Accrington Stanley. Promotion to the Third Division followed in 1965, and the club were promoted again 3 years later and enjoyed an eight-year spell in the Football League Second Division, before being relegated. "The U's" reached the top tier of English football in 1985 after successive promotions, where they stayed for 3 years. During this time United won their only piece of major silverware, the 1986 Football League Cup.

Apart from relegation to the redesignated Second Division (the old Third Division after the creation of the Premier League) and subsequent promotion shortly afterwards, Oxford United remained in the second tier for eleven years until 1999. After this a decline set in, with two relegations in three years to the Football League Third Division, the fourth tier of English football. In 2006 Oxford became the first club to have reached the First Division and won a major trophy to be relegated from the Football League. One of the teams to be promoted were Conference champions Accrington Stanley, 44 years after Accrington lost their league status to Oxford. United gained promotion back to the Football League after beating York City 3–1 in the 2010 Conference Premier play-off final. After six seasons in League Two they finished 2nd in the table and were promoted to League One, the third tier of the English football pyramid.

Seasons

Season	League									FA Cup	League Cup [A]	Other		Top scorer(s) [B] [C]		Notes
	Division	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos
1893–94	Only friendlies were played															[1]
1894–95	OCJ	Abandoned because of weather postponements														[2]
1895–96	OCJ	12	4	1	7	18	27	9	[AC]							[1]
1896–97	OCJ	1	0	0	1	2	5	2	[AA]							[2]
1897–98	OCJ [AB]	7	6	1	0	25	2	13	1st [AE]							[3]
1898–99	OCJ [AD]	7	5	1	1	21	8	11	1st [AE]					H. Knowles	8	[4]
1899–1900	ODL [AF]	9	3	2	4	19	13	8	3rd					H. Knowles	4	[4]
1900–01	CJL [AG] [AH]	10	3	1	6	17	15	5 [AI]	4th			OSC	R1	S. Wakelin	4	[5]
1901–02	ODL	8	4	2	2	18	6	10	3rd			OSC	F	C. Clinkard	4	[5]
1902–03	ODL	1	1	0	0	6	0	2	[AJ]					Six players	1	[6]
1903–04	ODL	6	5	0	1	18	7	15	2nd					P. Tolley	5	[7]
1904–05	did not play senior league football this season															[6]
1931–32	Oxon	22	16	0	6	72	33	48	4th	Expre		OSC	R1
1932–33	Oxon	20	10	1	9	53	38	31	6th	Prelim		OSC	SF
1933–34	Oxon	22	10	2	10	62	63	32	8th			OSC	R1
1934–35	Oxon	22	8	2	12	49	49	26	7th	Expre		OSC	R2
1935–36	Oxon	20	15	0	5	62	38	50	2nd	Expre		OSC	W
1936–37	Oxon	24	16	2	6	94	50	50	3rd	Expre		OSC	SF
1937–38	Oxon	26	19	3	4	83	38	60	2nd	Prelim		OSC	SF
1938–39	Oxon	26	24	2	0	125	21	74	1st	QR1		OSC	F
1939–40	Oxon	21	11	3	7	57	36	36	4th	[D]		OSC	SF
1940–41	Oxon	25	12	5	8	79	41	41	n/a
1941–42	Oxon	18	11	3	4	69	41	36	3rd			OSC	F
1942–43	Oxon	n/a [E]										OSC	R2
1943–44	Oxon	12	3	3	6	26	36	12	5th			OSC	R1
1944–45	Oxon	18	10	2	6	46	29	32	4th			OSC	R2
1945–46	Oxon	12	9	2	1	55	22	29	2nd	QR2		OSC	F
1946–47	Oxon	Abandoned because of weather postponements								QR2		OSC	R2
1947–48	SP1W [G]	24	14	5	5	78	37	47	5th	Prelim		OSC	W
1948–49	SP1W	26	16	1	9	87	48	49	4th	Prelim		OSC	SF
1949–50	SL [H]	46	15	7	24	72	97	37	21st	QR1		SLC	R1	Jim Smith	15
1950–51	SL	44	18	11	15	84	83	47	7th	QR1		SLC	R1	Bill Rowstron	24
1951–52	SL	42	16	11	15	55	53	43	11th	QR3 [I]		SLC	R1	Vic Barney	13
1952–53	SL	42	23	12	7	93	50	58	1st	QR4		SLC	W	Norman Mills	22
1953–54	SL	42	22	9	11	68	43	53	2nd	R4		SLC	W	Ken Smith	17
1954–55	SL	42	18	7	17	82	62	43	10th	R1		SLC	R1	Harry Yates	25
1955–56	SL	42	17	6	19	82	86	40	15th	QR4		SLC	QR2	Jimmy Smillie	25
1956–57	SL	42	19	7	16	64	61	45	9th	QR4		SLC	R2	Lionel Phillips	13
1957–58	SL	42	18	7	17	90	83	43	9th	QR4		SLC	QR1	Jack Cross	23
1958–59	SL	34	16	3	15	76	61	35	10th	R2		SLC	R1	Joe Dickson	27
1959–60	SLP	42	23	8	11	78	61	54	2nd	R1		SLC	R2	Geoff Denial	24
1960–61	SLP	42	27	10	5	104	43	64	1st [I]	R3		SLC	R2	Tony Jones	38
1961–62	SLP	42	28	5	9	118	46	61	1st	R1		SLC	QR2	Bud Houghton	43
1962–63	Div 4 [K]	46	13	15	18	70	71	41	18th	R3	R1			Bud Houghton	18
1963–64	Div 4	46	14	13	19	59	63	41	18th	R6	R1			Arthur Longbottom	14
1964–65	Div 4	46	23	15	8	87	44	61	4th	R1	R2			Colin Booth	23
1965–66	Div 3	46	19	8	19	70	74	46	14th	R1	R1			Graham Atkinson	19
1966–67	Div 3	46	15	13	18	61	66	43	16th	R2	R1			Graham Atkinson	15
1967–68	Div 3	46	22	13	11	69	47	57	1st	R1	R3			Mick Bullock	16
1968–69	Div 2	42	12	9	21	34	55	33	20th	R3	R1			John Shuker	8
1969–70	Div 2	42	12	15	15	35	42	39	15th	R3	R5			Ken Skeen	13
1970–71	Div 2	42	14	14	14	41	48	42	14th	R5	R3			Ken Skeen	9
1971–72	Div 2	42	12	14	16	43	55	38	15th	R3	R3			Nigel Cassidy	13
1972–73	Div 2	42	19	7	16	52	43	45	8th	R4	R2	AIC	Grp	Hugh Curran	17
1973–74	Div 2	42	10	16	16	35	46	36	18th	R3	R2			Hugh Curran	14
1974–75	Div 2	42	15	12	15	41	51	42	11th	R3	R1			Derek Clarke	9
1975–76	Div 2	42	11	11	20	39	59	33	20th	R3	R2			Mick Tait	12
1976–77	Div 3	46	12	15	19	55	65	39	17th	R1	R1			Peter Foley	13
1977–78	Div 3	46	13	14	19	64	67	40	18th	R1	R2			Peter Foley	21
1978–79	Div 3	46	14	18	14	44	50	46	11th	R1	R3			Jason Seacole	11
1979–80	Div 3	46	14	13	19	57	62	41	17th	R1	R3			Paul Berry	14
1980–81	Div 3	46	13	17	16	39	47	43	14th	R2	R3			Malcolm Shotton	7
1981–82	Div 3	46	19	14	13	63	49	71	5th	R5	R3	FLGC	Grp	Keith Cassells	22
1982–83	Div 3	46	22	12	12	71	53	78 [L]	5th	R3	R2	FLT [M]	Grp	Mick Vinter	14
1983–84	Div 3	46	28	11	7	91	50	95	1st	R5	R5	AMC	R1	Steve Biggins	24
1984–85	Div 2	42	25	9	8	84	36	84	1st	R4	R4			John Aldridge	34
1985–86	Div 1	42	10	12	20	62	80	42	18th	R3	W	FMC	F [N]	John Aldridge	31
1986–87	Div 1	42	11	13	18	44	69	46	18th	R3	R4	FMC	R3	John Aldridge	21
1987–88	Div 1	40	6	13	21	44	80	31	21st	R4	SF	FMC	R2	Dean Saunders	21
1988–89	Div 2	46	14	12	20	62	70	54	17th	R4	R2	FMC	R1	Martin Foyle	15
1989–90	Div 2	46	15	9	22	57	66	54	17th	R4	R1	FMC	R1	John Durnin	15
1990–91	Div 2	46	14	19	13	69	66	61	10th	R4	R4	FMC	R3	Paul Simpson	18
1991–92	Div 2	46	13	11	22	66	73	50	21st	R4	R2	FMC	R1	Jim Magilton	13
1992–93	Div 1 [O]	46	14	14	18	53	56	56	14th	R3	R2	AIC	Grp	Jim Magilton	13
1993–94	Div 1	46	13	10	23	54	75	49	23rd	R5	R2	AIC	Grp	John Byrne	9
1994–95	Div 2	46	21	12	13	66	52	73	7th	R1	R2	AMC	QF	Paul Moody	24
1995–96	Div 2	46	24	11	11	76	39	83	2nd	R4	R2	AMC	R2	Paul Moody	24
1996–97	Div 1	46	16	9	21	64	68	57	17th	R3	R4			Nigel Jemson	23
1997–98	Div 1	46	16	10	20	60	64	58	12th	R3	R4			Joey Beauchamp	19
1998–99	Div 1	46	10	14	22	48	71	44	23rd	R4	R1			Dean Windass	18
1999–2000	Div 2	46	12	9	25	43	73	45	20th	R3	R3	AMC	QF	Matt Murphy	17
												FLT	R3
2000–01	Div 2	46	7	6	33	53	100	27	24th	R2	R1	FLT	R1	Phil Gray	9
2001–02	Div 3	46	11	14	21	53	62	47	21st	R1	R1	FLT	R1	Paul Moody	13
2002–03	Div 3	46	19	12	15	57	47	69	8th	R3	R3	FLT	R1	Andy Scott	11
2003–04	Div 3	46	18	17	11	55	44	71	9th	R1	R2	FLT	R1	Steve Basham	15
2004–05	Lge 2 [P]	46	16	11	19	50	63	59	15th	R1	R2	FLT	R1	Tommy Mooney	15
2005–06	Lge 2	46	11	16	19	43	57	49	23rd	R2	R1	FLT	AQF	Steve Basham	13
2006–07	Conf Nat	46	22	15	9	66	33	81	2nd [Q]	R1		FAT	R2	Robert Duffy	21
2007–08	Conf Nat	46	20	11	15	56	48	71	9th	R2		FAT	R1	Yemi Odubade	11
												CLC	R4
2008–09	Conf Nat	46	24	10	12	72	51	77	7th	R2		FAT	R2	James Constable	26
												CLC	R3
2009–10	Conf Nat	44 [AK]	25	11	8	64	31	86	3rd [AL]	R2		FAT	R4	James Constable	23
2010–11	Lge 2	46	17	12	17	58	60	63	12th	R1	R2	FLT	R1	James Constable	17
2011–12	Lge 2	46	17	17	12	59	48	68	9th	R1	R1	FLT	AQF	James Constable	11
2012–13	Lge 2	46	19	8	19	60	61	65	9th	R3	R2	FLT	ASF	James Constable	14
2013–14	Lge 2	46	16	14	16	53	50	62	8th	R3	R2	FLT	R2	James Constable	12
2014–15	Lge 2	46	15	16	15	49	48	61	13th	R2	R2	FLT	R1	Danny Hylton	16
2015–16	Lge 2	46	24	14	8	84	41	86	2nd	R4	R2	FLT	Final	Kemar Roofe	26
2016–17	Lge 1	46	20	9	17	65	52	69	8th	R5	R2	FLT	Final	Chris Maguire	17
2017–18	Lge 1	46	15	11	20	61	66	56	16th	R1	R1	FLT	R4	James Henry, Wes Thomas	11
2018–19	Lge 1	46	15	15	16	58	64	60	12th	R3	R3	FLT	R4	James Henry	15
2019–20	Lge 1	35	17	9	9	61	37	60	4th [AM]	R4	QF	FLT	R2	Matty Taylor	17
2020–21	Lge 1	46	22	8	16	77	56	74	6th	R1	R2	FLT	SF	Matty Taylor	13
2021–22	Lge 1	46	22	10	14	82	59	76	8th	R1	R2	FLT	GRP	Matty Taylor	22
2022–23	Lge 1	46	11	14	21	49	56	47	19th	R3	R2	FLT	GRP	Cameron Brannagan	12

Key

Division shown in bold when it changes because of promotion, relegation or league reorganisation. Top scorer shown in bold when he set or equalled a club record.

Key to league record: P = Played W = Games won D = Games drawn L = Games lost F = Goals for A = Goals against Pts = Points Pos = Final position

Key to divisions: Div 1 = Football League First Division Div 2 = Football League Second Division Div 3 = Football League Third Division Div 4 = Football League Fourth Division Lge 2 = Football League Two Conf Nat = Conference National OCJ = Oxfordshire City Junior A Division ODL = Oxfordshire District League OSC = Oxfordshire Senior Cup Oxon = Oxfordshire Senior Football League SLP = Southern Football League Premier SP1W = Spartan League Division 1 (Western) AIC = Anglo-Italian Cup AMC = Associate Members Cup CLC = Conference League Cup FAT = FA Trophy FLGC = Football League Group Cup FLT = Football League Trophy FMC = Full Members Cup SLC = Southern League Cup

Key to rounds: Expre = Extra Preliminary round Prelim = Preliminary round Q1 = Qualifying Round 1 Q2 = Qualifying Round 2 Q3 = Qualifying Round 3 Q4 = Qualifying Round 4 R1 = Round 1 R2 = Round 2 R3 = Round 3 R4 = Round 4 R5 = Round 5

R6 = Round 6 Grp = Group stage AQF = Area Quarter-finals QF = Quarter-finals ASF = Area Semi-finals SF = Semi-finals F = Southern Final Final = Runners-Up W = Winners

Champions

Runners-up

Promoted

Relegated

Notes

A. ^ The Football League Cup competition did not start until the 1960–61 season.
B. ^ There are no complete records of scorers until 1898
C. ^ Includes goals scored in the Oxon League, City Junior League, Oxfordshire District League, the Football League (including play-offs), FA Cup, Anglo-Italian Cup, Football League Cup, Associate Members' Cup/Football League Trophy, Conference National (including playoffs), FA Trophy and Conference League Cup.
D. ^ The FA Cup was not held until 1945 because of World War 2.
E. ^ The league records are incomplete.
G. ^ Headington left the Oxfordshire Senior League and moved into the Spartan League.
H. ^ Headington United were elected into the Southern League.
I. ^ Headington United were disqualified following an appeal from Wycombe Wanderers.
J. ^ Despite finishing as champions, Oxford United failed to be elected into the Football League.
K. ^ Oxford United were elected into the football league, replacing the original Accrington Stanley.
L. ^ From the 1981–82 season, points were allocated on the basis of 3 for a win and 1 for a draw; previously only two points had been given for a win.
M. ^ The Football League Group Cup was renamed Football League Trophy for the 1982–83 season. The current tournament of the same name was originally the Associate Members Cup.
N. ^ Oxford United reached the Southern Final round, but failed to reach the overall final.
O. ^ Division Two re-designated Division One on formation of the F.A. Premier League.
P. ^ Football League Division Three renamed "League Two" because of a sponsorship change.
Q. ^ After qualifying for the play-offs, Oxford United lost on penalties in the semi-finals against Exeter City.
AA. ^ Only one match was played before the competition was scrapped and replaced with a Junior Cup.
AB. ^ A match against St Paul's was a walkover.
AC. ^ No table was kept as a way of ordering the teams.
AD. ^ A match against Cowley Juniors was a walkover.
AE. ^ Oxford United went on to the league final, winning it in consecutive seasons.
AF. ^ Oxford's application to join the second division of the Oxfordshire District League was accepted.
AG. ^ Because of the Boer War, Oxford were forced to withdraw from the Oxfordshire District League as 10 members of the team were on active duty. However, the following season they returned to the league.
AH. ^ A match against College Servants was a walkover.
AI. ^ Oxford were deducted 2 points for fielding an illegible player.
AJ. ^ After crowd trouble during a game against Victoria, Oxford were banned from playing matches within three miles of their ground, and such could not fulfill their league fixtures.
AK. ^ Only 44 games were played because of the expulsion of Chester City halfway through the season.
AL. ^ Oxford were promoted through the play-offs, beating York City 3–1 at Wembley Stadium.
AM. ^ The League one season was suspended on 3 March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with clubs voting to curtail the season three months later. Positions were decided based on points per game (PPG).

References

General

• Brodetsky, Martin (2009). Oxford United: The Complete Record. Breedon Books. ISBN   978-1-85983-715-3.
• Howland, Andy and Roger (1989). Oxford United: A Complete Record (1893-1989). Breedon Books. ISBN   0-907969-52-6.
• Swann, Geron; Ward, Andrew (1996). The Boys from up the Hill: An Oral History of Oxford United . Oxford: Crowberry. ISBN   0-9507568-2-2.
• "Oxford United". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 7 June 2008.

Specific

1. Brodetsky. The Complete Record, p.370.
2. Brodetsky. The Complete Record, p.11.
3. Brodetsky. The Complete Record, p.12.
4. Brodetsky. The Complete Record, p.371.
5. Brodetsky. The Complete Record, p.372.
6. Brodetsky. The Complete Record. p.14.
7. Brodetsky. The Complete Record. p.373.