A Rough Guide To Oxford United Tuesday, 23rd Dec 2025 11:00 We have played Oxford away at Christmas before, it will be 50 years less a day, since we beat them 2-1 in what would become our greatest ever season, when we arrive on Boxing Day. However that was their old ground, so here is all you need to know if you are travelling up this year. Southampton have never played a competitive fixture at the Kassam Stadium the current home of Oxford United, but we did play there at the start of last season, where our defeat was an ominous sign of the season to come. The ground Oxford moved to the Kassam Stadium in 2001, after previously playing at the Manor Ground, a small compact and quirky ground, we last visited there in November 1996 in a League cup tie, when a Richard Dryden Goal in the first half was cancelled out in the very last minute when ex Saints striker Paul Moody equalised in the final minute. we won the replay 3-2. Other than that our visits to Oxford in competitive games were few we have played them in Oxford just 7 times, 6 being in the League, 2 seasons between 1974-76 and then when they were in the top flight between 1985-1988 for 4 seasons and also an FA Cup game in 1969 and a league cup game in 1996/97 when after a 1-1 draw at the Manor Ground, we beat them 3-2 at the Dell, these were our last competitive fixtures against them. For those that like a good omen, as mentioned earlier, we played them on 27th December 1975 at the Manor, we had beaten Bristol Rovers at home on Boxing Day and just 24 hours later were in action again.
The old ground was cramped and the 12,004 crowd contained several thousand Saints supporters, most of whom assembled in the Oxford home end, they saw Bobby Stokes head us in front from a Mick Channon cross before the home side equalised to make it 1-1 at half time. The game was won in the 63rd minute when Nick Holmes fired in the winner. This was the 5th game in a row won in December, although bizarrely because of the weather and the FA Cup we would not play again in the League until January 17th. The Kassam is strange in that it only has 3 sides, behind one goal is a 6ft fence with the car park behind it. The three stands are fairly similar and they have a total capacity of 12,500. The Away Section Away supporters are housed in one half of the North Stand, towards the open end of the ground. This stand is usually shared with home supporters. The facilities within and the views of the pitch are very good as you would expect from a relatively new stadium only 23 years old. There is the usual selection of refreshment kiosks etc under the stand in the concourse, which is quite cramped. Pubs Etc There is not much around the ground in terms of pubs, the nearest proper pubs are all around a mile or so away, however there is a bar in the adjacent Holiday Inn Express, and also a bar at the nearby Leisure complex, but expect big queues and big prices. There is no designated away pub at Oxford. If you don't mind the walk then you could park your car at these pubs and walk. Kings Arms – Church Rd, Sandford-on-Thames, Oxford OX4 4YB Getting There By Car This is an easy one to get too and traffic being ok should only take a little over an hour from Southampton. Take the A34 north from Winchester and the ground is well signposted with brown football signs pointing the way. The stadium can be found in between the Oxford Science Park & Blackbird Leys Estate. Car Parking There are 2,000 car parking spaces at the stadium itself, which are free. However, the car parks tend to fill up fast, so try and arrive early if you can (at least 75 minutes before kick off). An additional 400 car parking spaces are now available at the Ozone cinema and bowling alley complex adjacent to the stadium, which are also free to use. Reviews from other clubs have mentioned that their are issues getting out of the car parks after the game, at our friendly last season, despite the ground being less than half full, it took the best part of an hour to get out of the car park after the game. So my advice would be to park up somewhere near the aforementioned George Pub ( OX4 4PU) and then walk the 0.9 miles to the ground, around about 20 mins at average pace. By Train Quirky Facts Oxford have several famous fans, comedian Timothy Mallett was famous for a while, football commentator Jim Rosenthal, Tim Henman who invented a hill in Wimbledon and bizarrely Woody Harrelson who visited for a match in 2017 when filming a Star Wars film. Oxford for a long time were the second club in the City, playing second fiddle to Oxford City, they were originally called Headington when they formed in 1893, they only turned professional in 1949 and after changing their name to Oxford United in 1960 were elected to the Football League in 1960. Their original club badge was an ox crossing a ford, no one was sure of the thinking behind this design and so they changed to just an ox head logo in 1979. Oxford's fiercest rivals are Swindon Town and they play each other in what is known as the A420 derby, the road between the two places. In 2011, vandals burned the initials STFC into the Kassam Stadium's pitch, given the ground has only a small fence at one end it was probably simple to get in. Oxford call Swindon fans "Moonrakers" this apparently is the local term for people who come from Wiltshire, although I have never heard it referred to people from Salisbury. They also have a rivalry with Reading, however not with Oxford City whom they haven't played competitively since 1959.
Address: Record Attendance At The Kassam Stadium: At The Manor Ground: All Photos Via Reuters Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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