Come On You Yellows (Oxford United F.C.)

Member Name: rleigh

Product:	Oxford United F.C.
Date:	15/11/07 (97 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good support both Home and Away, New manager will hopefully bring success.

Disadvantages: Now a Blue Square Premier side, Ground only has 3 sides.

Having painfully witnessed the U's get relegated at the end of the 2005/2006 with it all coming down to the last game, a home tie against Leyton Orient at the almighty Kassam Stadium, I thought that I would write a piece about my beloved Oxford United and life in the Blue Square Premier. At the aforementioned game I felt that Oxford played their hearts out, however we just didn't have the strength to defeat a Leyton Orient side that despite securing promotion to League 1 with a 3-2 win over us looked pretty poor. That's neither here nor there however, and now in our second season in the Blue Square Premier, we just don't seem to be making any changes to that. Currently sitting around mid table, Oxford United are a depressingly average Blue Square Premier team who seriously need to up their game if they're ever to return to playing competitive League football.

I have been an Oxford United fan all of my life, and with all of my family supporting the club – going to the games can either be a great family outing, or serious fuel for a family feud. The team have recently had their manager Jim Smith resign having unsuccessfully managed to guide Oxford to promotion last season through the play-off's. It was Jim Smith's second stint in charge of the team, and he had previously guided us to the top flight of football for the first time back in the 1985-86 season, having won two titles in a row before rather amusingly leaving the club to manage QPR whom he then had to witness Oxford defeat 3-0 in the Milk Cup Final that same year. Although Smith brought great success to the club the first time around, it just didn't happen for a second time around and hence him resigning, meaning that first team coach Darren Patterson would take on the role as manager.


-The Stadium and the Crowds-

For a non-league ground, the Kassam Stadium is extremely impressive, but then again had we been in the Blue Square South and been scheduled to come up the ground we have would have meant we wouldn't have been accepted into the Blue Square Premier as the rules permit that all grounds must have 4 sides and I doubt that the fence that is situated behind one of the goals would count. Seating 12 500, the Kassam is plenty big enough for the crowds of 4000+ that we've been getting recently for our home games and I fear that it will be a long wait until we will be able to fill the stadium on a regular basis. Should we win promotion this season, then we may well fill it up again for the game that will potentially seal the deal, however I doubt that this will be the case and although we'll probably get our highest attendance for the season on that day should it emerge, with the sort of away crowds that Blue Square Premier sides bring, we'd need to fill more than 12 000 seats. As I say though - the ground is impressive, but if it actually had 4 sides like a normal ground should then it would be a hell of a lot more impressive, but then again with the crowds we currently attract, a fourth stand is non essential for the meanwhile. As it stands the crowds we are getting are dwarfing most League 1 and 2 crowds, so a fourth side would potentially not really be required for at least another few years.


-Life In The Blue Square Premier-

Having been in the Blue Square Premier for two seasons now; life in this division is not as easy as some thought it would be. Many expected Oxford to get promoted straight away in their first season in the Blue Square Premier, however in the 2007/2008 season we find ourselves there for a second season and are currently showing no signs of changing that. At the time of writing this, Oxford United currently lie in 12th place in the league and are 9 points outside the play-off zone (the top 5), and a massive 15 points below the team who currently lie in first place; Aldershot. I hate to be a pessimist, but I just can't see Oxford getting promoted this season, and although it would be lovely to make the Play-Off's even and battle it out for promotion to League 2, I just don't feel that we have the strength of squad to do so. Injuries in recent weeks have left us with a bare bones squad and required for loan players to have been brought in just to make up the numbers. In a competitive Blue Square Premier league game, 11 players need to be fielded and 5 must be named as substitutes, but given the mass of injuries the club is suffering at the moment – the substitutes bench has recently been made up of not only loan players but some of our youth players also. You just know that your team is in trouble when youth players have to be named in the squad just so that there are enough players. With several key players currently working their way back to fitness however; this problem should shortly be solved and then Oxford United should be able to get things back on track.


-Awards and Successes-

In the past few years we haven't really done anything massively encouraging, finishing 23rd in the season we were relegated from League 2, 15th the season before, and although an encouraging 9th the season before that, we had been top by a long shot and then just slipped away after Christmas so things had basically been pretty bleak for the club for about two and a half years before we were relegated to the Blue Square Premier. Last season saw us come 2nd in the Blue Square Premier however, for the first time in the clubs history earning a Play-Off place. This can not be viewed as a massive positive however as having won the first leg of two in the Play-Off Semi Final away at Exeter, we slipped away to a 2-0 defeat at home and were defeated that night on penalties.

The club have not really seen any real success since coming second in Division 2 (now called League 1) to rivals Swindon Town in the 1995-96 season and thus getting promoted, but even that semi success was short lived as we were relegated in the 1998-99 season and since then have been in free fall dropping from league to league and eventually ending up in the non-league with the Blue Square Premier that we find ourselves in today.

As I've already mentioned, the club won the Milk Cup in 1986, this being the peak of Oxford United as we celebrated top flight football for the first time ever, doing it in style by bagging ourselves a major domestic trophy. To date it remains our only major Cup trophy, however from time to time you will still hear the Oxford allegiance sing about this success in amongst the songs of Swindon hatred, and chants of 'Come on you Yellows!' amongst others. 21 years on from the beginning of our stint at the top level and we may be 4 leagues below where we were then, but the pride in the club has never diminished. Oxford United are still a well supported club and although we are no longer the big name we once were, I'm still as proud as ever to call myself an Oxford United fan.

Summary: Oxford United always have been and always will be the only team for me.