Oxford United
The club was formed in 1893 as an amateur club called Headington and in 1911 they merged with neighbouring side Headington Quarry and played under the name of Headington United.
The club graduated from junior to senior football in 1921 and joined the Oxfordshire Senior League. In 1947 they joined the Spartan League before being elected to the Southern League in 1949, when they became a semi professional outfit.
They were elected to the Fourth Division of the Football League in 1962, following the demise of Accrington Stanley and were promoted to the Third Division in 1964/65 and to Division Two just two years later.
They suffered their first ever relegation after eight years at that level and were only saved from bankruptcy in January 1982 by the intervention of millionaire publisher Robert Maxwell.
Oxford were Third Division Champions in 1983/84 and Second Division Champions a year later, thus gaining promotion to the top flight for the first time in their history.
In 1985/86 they beat Queens Park Rangers in the Wembley final of the Football League Cup, though after three seasons in the top tier of English football the club was again relegated and faced an uncertain future once again on the death of Robert Maxwell.
The club was bought by Biomass Recycling in 1992 but financial problems resurfaced again before the end of the decade and the club was taken over by London hotelier Firoz Kassam who was in charge when the club moved from the Manor Ground, home since 1925, to the Kassam Stadium in 2001. The three sided ground currently has a capacity of 12,500.
Relegated to The Conference in 2005/06, Oxford regained their place in the Football League in 2009/10 following a play off final victory against York City in front of a crowd of 42,669 at Wembley.
Last season Oxford finished in eighth place, having reached the play offs in the previous two seasons and they will surely be challenging at the top end of the table again this time around. Games against them are always keenly contested and the two FA Cup ties between the sides last season were outstanding games off football.
Players to have turned out for both clubs include Julian Alsop, Billy Bodin, Junior Brown, Christian Edwards, Scott Davies, Ryan Clarke, James Clarke, Chris Carruthers, Ray Graydon, Lewis Haldane, Jefferson Louis, Alex Jeannin, Alex Jakubiak, Will Hoskins, Tareiq Holmes-Dennis, Lee Maddison, Lee Mansell, Tony Obi, Sam Slocombe, Neil Slatter, Scott Shearer, Liam Sercombe, Dave Savage, Sean Rigg, Justin Richards, Scott Rendell, Rob Quinn, Matty Taylor, Gary Twigg, Chris Zebroski, Robert Wolleaston and Richard Walker.
Graydon, as well as playing for both clubs, was assistant manager at Oxford and manager of Rovers from the summer of 2002 to January 2004.Former Rovers coach, and current Yeovil Town manager Chris Hargreaves, scored six goals in 73 league appearances for Oxford.
Patterson, a former Rovers caretaker manager, and assistant under Paul Trollope, scored once in 20 league games for Oxford and was also caretaker manager and manager of the U’s for just eight days in 2006 and lost the job when they were sold to Firoz Kassam.
Ian Atkins has managed both clubs, while former Rovers midfielder Gary Waddock enjoyed a spell as Head Coach at Oxford between March and July 2014.
Former Rovers manager Dave Penney scored 15 goals in 110 league games for Oxford.
Players who have made their Rovers league debut against Oxford include Ray Cashley (1983/84), Paul Hardyman (1992/93), Richard Rose (2002/03), Scott Rendell (2011/12), Fabian Broghammer, David Clarkson and Sam Walker (all 2012/13), Chris Beardsley, Steven Gillespie and Alan Gow (all 2013/14), Lee Mansell (2015/16), Luke James (2016/17) and George Williams (2020/21).
Next season’s fixtures see Rovers entertain Oxford on 13th August and travel to the Kassam Stadium for the return fixture on 25th February 2023.
A round trip from the Memorial Stadium to the Kassam Stadium takes in 170 miles via the M4 and A34.
Oxford United FC
Kassam Stadium
Grenoble Road
Oxford
OX4 4XP
Keith Brookman
(all images courtesy of Keith Brookman)