List of Oxford United F.C. seasons

Oxford United Football Club is an English association football club originally formed in 1893 under the name Headington United. The club played in local Oxfordshire leagues until being elected into the Southern League in 1949. It was at this time the club turned professional. The club adopted its present name in 1960 and was elected into the Football League in 1962, replacing Accrington Stanley. Promotion to the Third Division followed in 1965, and the club were promoted again 3 years later and enjoyed an eight-year spell in the Football League Second Division, before being relegated. "The U's" reached the top tier of English football in 1985 after successive promotions, where they stayed for 3 years. During this time United won their only piece of major silverware, the 1986 Football League Cup.

Apart from relegation to the redesignated Second Division (the old Third Division after the creation of the Premier League) and subsequent promotion shortly afterwards, Oxford United remained in the second tier for eleven years until 1999. After this a decline set in, with two relegations in three years to the Football League Third Division, the fourth tier of English football. In 2006 Oxford became the first club to have reached the First Division and won a major trophy to be relegated from the Football League. One of the teams to be promoted were Conference champions Accrington Stanley, 44 years after Accrington lost their league status to Oxford. United gained promotion back to the Football League after beating York City 3–1 in the 2010 Conference Premier play-off final. After six seasons in League Two they finished 2nd in the table and were promoted to League One, the third tier of the English football pyramid.

Seasons

[edit]
Season League FA Cup League
Cup
[A]
Other Top scorer(s)[B][C] Notes
Division P W D L F A Pts Pos
1893–94 Only friendlies were played [1]
1894–95 OCJ Abandoned because of weather postponements [2]
1895–96 OCJ 12 4 1 7 18 27 9 [AC] [1]
1896–97 OCJ 1 0 0 1 2 5 2 [AA] [2]
1897–98 OCJ[AB] 7 6 1 0 25 2 13 1st[AE] [3]
1898–99 OCJ[AD] 7 5 1 1 21 8 11 1st[AE] H. Knowles 8 [4]
1899–1900 ODL[AF] 9 3 2 4 19 13 8 3rd H. Knowles 4 [4]
1900–01 CJL[AG][AH] 10 3 1 6 17 15 5[AI] 4th OSC R1 S. Wakelin 4 [5]
1901–02 ODL 8 4 2 2 18 6 10 3rd OSC F C. Clinkard 4 [5]
1902–03 ODL 1 1 0 0 6 0 2 [AJ] Six players 1 [6]
1903–04 ODL 6 5 0 1 18 7 15 2nd P. Tolley 5 [7]
1904–05 did not play senior league football this season [6]
1931–32 Oxon 22 16 0 6 72 33 48 4th Expre OSC R1
1932–33 Oxon 20 10 1 9 53 38 31 6th Prelim OSC SF
1933–34 Oxon 22 10 2 10 62 63 32 8th OSC R1
1934–35 Oxon 22 8 2 12 49 49 26 7th Expre OSC R2
1935–36 Oxon 20 15 0 5 62 38 50 2nd Expre OSC W
1936–37 Oxon 24 16 2 6 94 50 50 3rd Expre OSC SF
1937–38 Oxon 26 19 3 4 83 38 60 2nd Prelim OSC SF
1938–39 Oxon 26 24 2 0 125 21 74 1st QR1 OSC F
1939–40 Oxon 21 11 3 7 57 36 36 4th [D] OSC SF
1940–41 Oxon 25 12 5 8 79 41 41 n/a
1941–42 Oxon 18 11 3 4 69 41 36 3rd OSC F
1942–43 Oxon n/a[E] OSC R2
1943–44 Oxon 12 3 3 6 26 36 12 5th OSC R1
1944–45 Oxon 18 10 2 6 46 29 32 4th OSC R2
1945–46 Oxon 12 9 2 1 55 22 29 2nd QR2 OSC F
1946–47 Oxon Abandoned because of weather postponements QR2 OSC R2
1947–48 SP1W[G] 24 14 5 5 78 37 47 5th Prelim OSC W
1948–49 SP1W 26 16 1 9 87 48 49 4th Prelim OSC SF
1949–50 SL[H] 46 15 7 24 72 97 37 21st QR1 SLC R1 Jim Smith 15
1950–51 SL 44 18 11 15 84 83 47 7th QR1 SLC R1 Bill Rowstron 24
1951–52 SL 42 16 11 15 55 53 43 11th QR3[I] SLC R1 Vic Barney 13
1952–53 SL 42 23 12 7 93 50 58 1st QR4 SLC W Norman Mills 22
1953–54 SL 42 22 9 11 68 43 53 2nd R4 SLC W Ken Smith 17
1954–55 SL 42 18 7 17 82 62 43 10th R1 SLC R1 Harry Yates 25
1955–56 SL 42 17 6 19 82 86 40 15th QR4 SLC QR2 Jimmy Smillie 25
1956–57 SL 42 19 7 16 64 61 45 9th QR4 SLC R2 Lionel Phillips 13
1957–58 SL 42 18 7 17 90 83 43 9th QR4 SLC QR1 Jack Cross 23
1958–59 SL 34 16 3 15 76 61 35 10th R2 SLC R1 Joe Dickson 27
1959–60 SLP 42 23 8 11 78 61 54 2nd R1 SLC R2 Geoff Denial 24
1960–61 SLP 42 27 10 5 104 43 64 1st[I] R3 SLC R2 Tony Jones 38
1961–62 SLP 42 28 5 9 118 46 61 1st R1 SLC QR2 Bud Houghton 43
1962–63 Div 4[K] 46 13 15 18 70 71 41 18th R3 R1 Bud Houghton 18
1963–64 Div 4 46 14 13 19 59 63 41 18th R6 R1 Arthur Longbottom 14
1964–65 Div 4 46 23 15 8 87 44 61 4th R1 R2 Colin Booth 23
1965–66 Div 3 46 19 8 19 70 74 46 14th R1 R1 Graham Atkinson 19
1966–67 Div 3 46 15 13 18 61 66 43 16th R2 R1 Graham Atkinson 15
1967–68 Div 3 46 22 13 11 69 47 57 1st R1 R3 Mick Bullock 16
1968–69 Div 2 42 12 9 21 34 55 33 20th R3 R1 John Shuker 8
1969–70 Div 2 42 12 15 15 35 42 39 15th R3 R5 Ken Skeen 13
1970–71 Div 2 42 14 14 14 41 48 42 14th R5 R3 Ken Skeen 9
1971–72 Div 2 42 12 14 16 43 55 38 15th R3 R3 Nigel Cassidy 13
1972–73 Div 2 42 19 7 16 52 43 45 8th R4 R2 AIC Grp Hugh Curran 17
1973–74 Div 2 42 10 16 16 35 46 36 18th R3 R2 Hugh Curran 14
1974–75 Div 2 42 15 12 15 41 51 42 11th R3 R1 Derek Clarke 9
1975–76 Div 2 42 11 11 20 39 59 33 20th R3 R2 Mick Tait 12
1976–77 Div 3 46 12 15 19 55 65 39 17th R1 R1 Peter Foley 13
1977–78 Div 3 46 13 14 19 64 67 40 18th R1 R2 Peter Foley 21
1978–79 Div 3 46 14 18 14 44 50 46 11th R1 R3 Jason Seacole 11
1979–80 Div 3 46 14 13 19 57 62 41 17th R1 R3 Paul Berry 14
1980–81 Div 3 46 13 17 16 39 47 43 14th R2 R3 Malcolm Shotton 7
1981–82 Div 3 46 19 14 13 63 49 71 5th R5 R3 FLGC Grp Keith Cassells 22
1982–83 Div 3 46 22 12 12 71 53 78[L] 5th R3 R2 FLT[M] Grp Mick Vinter 14
1983–84 Div 3 46 28 11 7 91 50 95 1st R5 R5 AMC R1 Steve Biggins 24
1984–85 Div 2 42 25 9 8 84 36 84 1st R4 R4 John Aldridge 34
1985–86 Div 1 42 10 12 20 62 80 42 18th R3 W FMC F[N] John Aldridge 31
1986–87 Div 1 42 11 13 18 44 69 46 18th R3 R4 FMC R3 John Aldridge 21
1987–88 Div 1 40 6 13 21 44 80 31 21st R4 SF FMC R2 Dean Saunders 21
1988–89 Div 2 46 14 12 20 62 70 54 17th R4 R2 FMC R1 Martin Foyle 15
1989–90 Div 2 46 15 9 22 57 66 54 17th R4 R1 FMC R1 John Durnin 15
1990–91 Div 2 46 14 19 13 69 66 61 10th R4 R4 FMC R3 Paul Simpson 18
1991–92 Div 2 46 13 11 22 66 73 50 21st R4 R2 FMC R1 Jim Magilton 13
1992–93 Div 1[O] 46 14 14 18 53 56 56 14th R3 R2 AIC Grp Jim Magilton 13
1993–94 Div 1 46 13 10 23 54 75 49 23rd R5 R2 AIC Grp John Byrne 9
1994–95 Div 2 46 21 12 13 66 52 73 7th R1 R2 AMC QF Paul Moody 24
1995–96 Div 2 46 24 11 11 76 39 83 2nd R4 R2 AMC R2 Paul Moody 24
1996–97 Div 1 46 16 9 21 64 68 57 17th R3 R4 Nigel Jemson 23
1997–98 Div 1 46 16 10 20 60 64 58 12th R3 R4 Joey Beauchamp 19
1998–99 Div 1 46 10 14 22 48 71 44 23rd R4 R1 Dean Windass 18
1999–2000 Div 2 46 12 9 25 43 73 45 20th R3 R3 AMC QF Matt Murphy 17
FLT R3
2000–01 Div 2 46 7 6 33 53 100 27 24th R2 R1 FLT R1 Phil Gray 9
2001–02 Div 3 46 11 14 21 53 62 47 21st R1 R1 FLT R1 Paul Moody 13
2002–03 Div 3 46 19 12 15 57 47 69 8th R3 R3 FLT R1 Andy Scott 11
2003–04 Div 3 46 18 17 11 55 44 71 9th R1 R2 FLT R1 Steve Basham 15
2004–05 Lge 2[P] 46 16 11 19 50 63 59 15th R1 R2 FLT R1 Tommy Mooney 15
2005–06 Lge 2 46 11 16 19 43 57 49 23rd R2 R1 FLT AQF Steve Basham 13
2006–07 Conf Nat 46 22 15 9 66 33 81 2nd[Q] R1 FAT R2 Robert Duffy 21
2007–08 Conf Nat 46 20 11 15 56 48 71 9th R2 FAT R1 Yemi Odubade 11
CLC R4
2008–09 Conf Nat 46 24 10 12 72 51 77 7th R2 FAT R2 James Constable 26
CLC R3
2009–10 Conf Nat 44[AK] 25 11 8 64 31 86 3rd[AL] R2 FAT R4 James Constable 23
2010–11 Lge 2 46 17 12 17 58 60 63 12th R1 R2 FLT R1 James Constable 17
2011–12 Lge 2 46 17 17 12 59 48 68 9th R1 R1 FLT AQF James Constable 11
2012–13 Lge 2 46 19 8 19 60 61 65 9th R3 R2 FLT ASF James Constable 14
2013–14 Lge 2 46 16 14 16 53 50 62 8th R3 R2 FLT R2 James Constable 12
2014–15 Lge 2 46 15 16 15 49 48 61 13th R2 R2 FLT R1 Danny Hylton 16
2015–16 Lge 2 46 24 14 8 84 41 86 2nd R4 R2 FLT Final Kemar Roofe 26
2016–17 Lge 1 46 20 9 17 65 52 69 8th R5 R2 FLT Final Chris Maguire 17
2017–18 Lge 1 46 15 11 20 61 66 56 16th R1 R1 FLT R4 James Henry, Wes Thomas 11
2018–19 Lge 1 46 15 15 16 58 64 60 12th R3 R3 FLT R4 James Henry 15
2019–20 Lge 1 35 17 9 9 61 37 60 4th[AM] R4 QF FLT R2 Matty Taylor 17
2020–21 Lge 1 46 22 8 16 77 56 74 6th R1 R2 FLT SF Matty Taylor 13
2021–22 Lge 1 46 22 10 14 82 59 76 8th R1 R2 FLT GRP Matty Taylor 22
2022–23 Lge 1 46 11 14 21 49 56 47 19th R3 R2 FLT GRP Cameron Brannagan 12
2023–24 Lge 1 46 22 11 13 79 56 77 5th[AN] R3 R1 FLT R2 Mark Harris 19

Key

[edit]

Division shown in bold when it changes because of promotion, relegation or league reorganisation. Top scorer shown in bold when he set or equalled a club record.

Champions Runners-up Promoted Relegated

Notes

[edit]

A. ^ The Football League Cup competition did not start until the 1960–61 season.
B. ^ There are no complete records of scorers until 1898
C. ^ Includes goals scored in the Oxon League, City Junior League, Oxfordshire District League, the Football League (including play-offs), FA Cup, Anglo-Italian Cup, Football League Cup, Associate Members' Cup/Football League Trophy, Conference National (including playoffs), FA Trophy and Conference League Cup.
D. ^ The FA Cup was not held until 1945 because of World War 2.
E. ^ The league records are incomplete.
G. ^ Headington left the Oxfordshire Senior League and moved into the Spartan League.
H. ^ Headington United were elected into the Southern League.
I. ^ Headington United were disqualified following an appeal from Wycombe Wanderers.
J. ^ Despite finishing as champions, Oxford United failed to be elected into the Football League.
K. ^ Oxford United were elected into the football league, replacing the original Accrington Stanley.
L. ^ From the 1981–82 season, points were allocated on the basis of 3 for a win and 1 for a draw; previously only two points had been given for a win.
M. ^ The Football League Group Cup was renamed Football League Trophy for the 1982–83 season. The current tournament of the same name was originally the Associate Members Cup.
N. ^ Oxford United reached the Southern Final round, but failed to reach the overall final.
O. ^ Division Two re-designated Division One on formation of the F.A. Premier League.
P. ^ Football League Division Three renamed "League Two" because of a sponsorship change.
Q. ^ After qualifying for the play-offs, Oxford United lost on penalties in the semi-finals against Exeter City.
AA. ^ Only one match was played before the competition was scrapped and replaced with a Junior Cup.
AB. ^ A match against St Paul's was a walkover.
AC. ^ No table was kept as a way of ordering the teams.
AD. ^ A match against Cowley Juniors was a walkover.
AE. ^ Oxford United went on to the league final, winning it in consecutive seasons.
AF. ^ Oxford's application to join the second division of the Oxfordshire District League was accepted.
AG. ^ Because of the Boer War, Oxford were forced to withdraw from the Oxfordshire District League as 10 members of the team were on active duty. However, the following season they returned to the league.
AH. ^ A match against College Servants was a walkover.
AI. ^ Oxford were deducted 2 points for fielding an illegible player.
AJ. ^ After crowd trouble during a game against Victoria, Oxford were banned from playing matches within three miles of their ground, and such could not fulfill their league fixtures.
AK. ^ Only 44 games were played because of the expulsion of Chester City halfway through the season.
AL. ^ Oxford were promoted through the play-offs, beating York City 3–1 at Wembley Stadium.
AM. ^ The League one season was suspended on 3 March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with clubs voting to curtail the season three months later. Positions were decided based on points per game (PPG).
AN. ^ Oxford were promoted through the play-offs, beating Bolton Wanderers 2–0 at Wembley Stadium.

References

[edit]
General
  • Brodetsky, Martin (2009). Oxford United: The Complete Record. Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-715-3.
  • Howland, Andy and Roger (1989). Oxford United: A Complete Record (1893-1989). Breedon Books. ISBN 0-907969-52-6.
  • Swann, Geron; Ward, Andrew (1996). The Boys from up the Hill: An Oral History of Oxford United. Oxford: Crowberry. ISBN 0-9507568-2-2.
  • "Oxford United". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
Specific
  1. ^ a b Brodetsky. The Complete Record, p.370.
  2. ^ a b Brodetsky. The Complete Record, p.11.
  3. ^ Brodetsky. The Complete Record, p.12.
  4. ^ a b Brodetsky. The Complete Record, p.371.
  5. ^ a b Brodetsky. The Complete Record, p.372.
  6. ^ a b Brodetsky. The Complete Record. p.14.
  7. ^ Brodetsky. The Complete Record. p.373.