In May, Alfie Potter scored the goal that confirmed Oxford United would be returning to the Football League after a four season absence. Over 30,000 fans had made the journey to Wembley and on their way home many will have joyfully pictured Manish Bhasin and Steve Claridge discussing the team’s fortunes from now on, late on a Saturday night.
The sense of relief at Oxford’s return would have been heightened by the fact that in recent seasons they had been right in the mixer for promotion yet fallen short each time. In 2007 they lost in the play-off semi-final, and in 2009 they missed the cut-off by four points after being deducted five for fielding an unregistered player. At times fans must have started to think they were destined to spend the rest of their footballing lives in non-league football. At the beginning of March last season they were six points clear of second placed Stevenage but managed to win only one of the next eight games, all but ensuring they would have be fighting for promotion in the play-offs once more. The difference this year, of course, was that they made it all the way.
It’s a phrase that is heard all too often, and generally one bandied about by supporters living off past glories, but Oxford United did seem a team too big for the league they were in. When they were relegated they became the first side ever to have won a major trophy - the Milk Cup in 1986 - to have to ply their trade outside the Football League. Last year they had an average attendance of 6,003 - roughly three times that of the league average - and this season in League Two it has increased to 7,133 (a figure only bettered in the division by Bradford City). In fact, it’s a figure that’s greater than most of the teams playing in League One.
Of course attendance isn’t everything. It is no guarantee of success and it certainly doesn’t mean the team is automatically better than one who plays in front of a smaller fan base. But it can only be a positive for the club when trying to lead the team up the football ladder. Whilst other teams in the league may have to compete for attention with other local, more successful sides, Oxford play in relative isolation. If they were someday to make it into the Championship, they certainly would have the potential to become the biggest club in the area.
But Oxford’s issue isn’t in getting people to watch the team play. Inconsistency on the pitch has been the name of Oxford’s campaign so far, something highlighted perfectly by their last two results. On Tuesday night they travelled to league leaders Chesterfield, the side with the best home record in the league, and managed to rally from a goal down to win the game. But in the match before they hosted a Gillingham side who had not won on their travels for 35 matches and promptly lost 1-0.
Oxford are currently lying in 18th position, but as with all the English leagues this season the middle of the division is an extremely tight affair, and with a run of victories there is nothing to say they couldn’t be jostling for position at the right end of the table. Aside from a 5-0 defeat to Bradford, a game which they ended with nine men, matches have more often than not been decided by a single goal, and Oxford can genuinely be seen to be a competitive side in this division.
A run of five successive defeats before the Chesterfield game has seen them fall to within only four points of the relegation places, yet players and fans recognise that this doesn’t tell the whole story. Striker Tom Craddock said after their recent victory that, “Although we’ve been losing a lot of games, I think we’ve been playing pretty well at times. We’ve been moving the ball and I don’t think we’ve looked like a team that has lost five on the bounce. We just kept believing and in the end it worked out for us.”
Oxford’s return to the Football League has yet to have any fairytale factor about it. But supporters will hope that beating top of the table Chesterfield will prove to be a catalyst for the rest of the season, and that Oxford will soon be climbing back up the table. “Obviously we can’t get too carried away,” continues Craddock, “but we’ve got to take positives from this and make sure we start picking up points because we haven’t been doing that lately – and with the quality we’ve got in our dressing room, it hasn’t been good enough.”
Fans will dream of emulating the likes of Exeter City, who, after five years of Conference football, won promotion through the play-offs in 2007/08 and immediately followed this up by finishing second in League Two. But, as Craddock said, the aim now will be to start picking up victories on a more consistent basis. A win at home to Barnet in their next match would see them record back to back victories for only the second time this season, and would be a welcome move in the right direction.
Things at the Kassam Stadium are certainly looking a lot better than they have been in recent years and there’s nothing to say that Oxford United won’t end up climbing through the divisions, with bookies pricing them at 7/1 to reach the play-offs at the end of the season. However, simply cementing their position once more as a Football League team must be seen as the most immediate aim.
twofootedtackle.com is trying to raise £1,000 for Cardiac Risk in the Young, which works to raise awareness of heart conditions that lead to sudden cardiac death and sudden death syndrome. You can help by donating just £2 at justgiving.com/twofootedtackle.
Tags: Oxford United