I was looking forward to the visit of Cambridge in a way that I haven’t in a while. For two years in the Championship, each game was a grind, a point-by-point scramble for survival. I still enjoyed…

I’m not the only Oxford fan who spent a reasonable portion of last week watching Leicester City vlogs on YouTube. Every time I thought I’d seen them all, another would be served up by the algorithm…

It’s often said that dealing with relegation is like dealing with a hangover. For us, it’s more like chiselling away at a crust. The success of two seasons in the Championship wasn’t that diz…

Due to the football-free weekend, my Saturday duties focussed on ferrying some post-GCSE teenagers to Reading Festival. While they headed off to do whatever it is teenagers do, I shuttled between b…

Last year, the club launched its new third kit as the players walked down the tunnel to face Hull in our first away game of the season. It was a bold move, the aqua shirt with teal notes and pink a…

Looking across the upper tier of the South Stand, there were echoes of our past, present and future. In the director’s box, Karl Robinson, looking slim and tanned, climbed the steps to his seat wit…

One summer, before mobile phones and wall-to-wall TV coverage, I remember coming back from holiday on the opening day of the season. We’d been camping in Europe, and our connections back home were …

Recruitment metrics, Jake Wright - champion of the world, Spygate - The Oxford Incident

This year Oxblogger celebrates its 20th year. To celebrate, let's find out who your favourite players are from the last two decades.

Even before last week, I couldn’t see a good outcome from our visit to Millwall. Going there to confirm relegation would have been bad enough, but surviving would mean celebrating in the jaws of th…

There were some complex mental gymnastics on show this week as we prepared for the climax of the season. Needing to win our games and hope that Charlton or West Brom lose theirs, we were assured se…

When Manchester City beat Arsenal on Sunday, the commentators were hyperbolic about City’s pursuit of the Premier League title and their relentless success machine. It left me cold; with the except…

Podcast Episode · The Oxblogger Podcast · 20 April · 53min

“Are you OK?” says the muffled voice from under the duvet.  I’m holding a slice of toast between my teeth while looking for my socks. Half the house is following a morning routine indistinguis…

When I commuted into London for work; I convinced myself of three things – that the commute was an hour each way when it was nearly two, that there were no jobs outside London when there were plent…

I have seven old school friends, who I’m still in touch with. With partners and children, we number nearly 30 people. Nowadays, it’s almost impossible to get us all in the same room at …

After the suffocating claustrophobia of a relegation ravaged winter, the international break felt like we’d been given shore leave. The clocks changed and the evenings became lighter. The clu…

Podcast Episode · The Oxblogger Podcast · 2 April · 57min

On Saturday morning, before the Southampton game, I saw a tweet from someone addressing any Oxford fans who were going to their first away game about ‘sit where we want’ lore. They said you needed …

I’m sure that most people retain more from their university education than I did, but these are the top three things I remember. First, dominant cultures are a class in themselves while minorities …

When something tragic happens, like the death of Amelia Aplin at the weekend, we’re reminded that these are the things that put football into perspective. This is meant to mean that it becomes triv…

Last Sunday I watched Arsenal’s win over Chelsea. Sky had Patrick Vieira, Kolo Toure and Emanuel Petit as guests. Thierry Henry was pictured high in the stands presumably on some kind of contractua…

Buy The Glory Years: Oxford United in the 1980s by Walkinshaw, Scott (ISBN: 9781836805106) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

I was reading recently about the influence of American owners on football in England. Americans see sports clubs differently to us; while we see clubs inextricably linked with their location and hi…

I’ve been having some anxiety dreams that are absurd in their construct, yet feel very real. The other night I dreamt I was driving along a motorway which took a sharp turn, my car turned on its si…

There are few things better than a phone-in caller who tries to add credibility to their opinion by claiming to have played or officiated at ‘quite a high level’.  These are the fine-margin ex…

When you’re having the season we’re having, it’s easy to get paranoid. For example, it’s been months since we’ve had a 12.30 kick-off on a Saturday. For many, that’s a good thing, personally I like…

The ball arcs into the illuminated skies. Its launch is long, unfettered and direct. This is the established science now; Cruyff is dead, tika-taka is too woke for our combative times. It’s time fo…

For away games I always give myself an hour for something to go wrong, or if it doesn’t, which it doesn’t, to soak up the atmosphere. Yesterday we soaked it up by finding a bin for our car rubbish,…

I maintain, had it been forged in the 1960s, a rivalry between Oxford and Wycombe would have taken a very different complexion. There’s always been a reluctance, particularly amongst Oxford fans, t…

The week unwrapped Have we turned the corner or is it another false dawn? The 2-1 win over Leicester City last week put us within striking distance of safety, but more importantly Matt Bloomfield h…

Ever since promotion, away games have felt like Elton John’s farewell tour. I’ve always assumed it’ll come to an end at some point so need to take the opportunities when I can. Last sea…

For a club so ingrained in the folklore of Oxford United, QPR represent something of the Grim Reaper of our modern Championship experience. Our first trip to Loftus Road last season was widely view…

The week unwrapped It seems like the most fun you can have in football nowadays is not playing football. Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Bristol City had glimmers of hope laced through it, but the positiv…

This week I had the distraction of having two wisdom teeth removed. Generally speaking, I was very brave boy but I still have the occasional flashback to the surgeon saying in his calm, soothing mo…

The week unwrapped It’s been a billion years since our last league game so obviously it’s all kicked off. After an expected, but fairly flaccid, 2-1 defeat to Ipswich on New Year’s Day …

One man’s largely pointless and reductive assessment of how we’re doing this calendar year.  On the pitch | B Realistically, the team has two objectives at the moment – stay in the divis…

Four Oxford United mysteries almost explained using the help of AI. In my current job, I spend quite a bit of time banging on about the differences between ‘tacit and explicit knowledge’. If you fa…

Oxford is a funny city when you think about it.  Nowhere is quite the same and I don’t think we can count Cambridge, given its lack of serious industry and any footballing folklore.  Magdalen Bridg…

Oxford United are masters of inconsequential firsts. In 1950, Headington United were the first professional team to install floodlights, using them for a friendly against Banbury Spencer. This wasn…

The week unwrapped Should this be the week unwrapped or unravelled? After an expected, but fairly flaccid, 2-1 defeat to Ipswich on New Year’s Day we’ve slipped to second bottom. Does the fightback…

We’re often told that teams in a difficult situation need to treat every game like it’s a cup final. The thing is, teams who need to treat games like they’re cup finals, are not usually the kind of…

The week unwrapped There’s an unfamiliar feeling about the place right now, and I’m not talking about cheese induced gout. No, there’s a palpable sense of sinking around Oxford United right now. Af…

I vividly remember my primary school football debut. I was in Year 5, or Lower Juniors as it was known, playing in a team of mostly Year 6’s (Upper Juniors). I was new to the school so there was a …

The week unwrapped Games come at Christmas like Lewis Haldane, thick and fast. We’re now at the point where the mince pies no longer taste right and nobody knows when to put the bins out. Amazingly…