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1) Retro Shirts of Oxford United Football Club
2) Oxford United FC Books
3) Oxford United FC Gifts
4) Click here for all the latest odds on Oxford United FC 5) Oxford United Football Club Ebay Auction here 6) Buy All The LATEST soccer Merchandise here Oxford United Football Club - A Potted History Oxford United Football Club, then known as Headington, was foundered in 1893 as an amateur club; a year later, they became known as Headington United. At the time, they were little more than a village team and mainly consisted of players from Headington Cricket Club to ensure that the cricketers maintained their fitness during the winter months. Headington United initially played only friendly matches but in 1899 they joined their first league, the Oxfordshire District League Second Division, where they remained until World War I broke out. Between the two World Wars, Headington United continued to play in local Oxfordshire leagues. In 1949, following their election to the Southern League, Headington opted to become a professional club. The recruitment of manager Harry Thompson signalled a more ambitious Headington United, who had the Football League in their sights. They became known on a national scale via a combination of winning the Southern League and their FA Cup exploits during the 1950's. Headington United decided to change their name to Oxford United Football Club in 1960 in an attempt to gain more recognisable publicity. They continued their dominance of the Southern League and were pressing hard for a place in the Football League. They achieved their ambition in 1962, albeit in unfortunate circumstances as they replaced the defunct Accrington Stanley. Oxford United continued their progression as a football club, and in 1965 they were promoted to the old Third Division. Two years later, and Oxford United were again celebrating promotion, this time to the old Second Division. They had several household names in their squad but the biggest would be captain Ron Atkinson, who later established himself as a prominent manager after retiring from the game. Oxford spent eight years in the Second Division before being relegated in 1976, for the first time in their history. Things got worse in 1982 when Oxford United FC were threatened with closure. Before that could happen they were rescued by Robert Maxwell, who then pressed for a merger with local rivals Reading to form a new club called Thames Valley Royals. After protests from both sets of supporters the merger plans were abandoned and Oxford began to enter its greatest period in their history. Successive promotions for Oxford United in 1984 and 1985 saw the then Third Division club rise to the top tier of English football. They spent three seasons in the First Division, which also included winning the Football League Cup in April 1986, before finally succumbing to relegation in 1988. The early 1990's again saw uncertainty over the future of Oxford United FC, due to the death of owner Robert Maxwell. Despite a new owner being found, Oxford could not prevent themselves from being relegated back to the newly called Second Division in 1994, although it took them just two seasons to reclaim their place. The late 1990's saw Oxford United survive another cash crisis. Unfortunately, despite ambitious off-field plans to build a new stadium, the on-field plans were failing, as a sharp decline saw Oxford relegated to the lowest division in 2001. Oxford built their impressive new stadium; now all they needed was an impressive team. Despite regularly being tipped as promotion contenders, a succession of managers failed to deliver. In fact, things got worse as at the end of the 2005/06 season, Oxford United were demoted from the Football League; ironically, they were replaced by Accrington Stanley, the club that Oxford United had replaced back in 1962. To this day, Oxford United remain a non-league club, arguably one of the biggest clubs in non-league football.
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