The Manor Ground was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

stadium in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, England, the home of

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

(previously known as

Headington Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston to the north-west, Cowley to the south, and Barton and Risinghurst to the east. Th ...

United) between 1925 and 2001. It hosted United's record crowd of 22,750 against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

6th Round match on 29 February 1964. The main seating stand was the Beech Road stand (on the west), the 'home' terracing was the London Road stand (south), the 'away' terracing was Cuckoo Lane (north) and on the fourth side was the Osler Road stand (east). In 1966, with the demolition of Sandfield College, a new entrance to the ground was created onto London Road. With the advent of the 1990s and the

Taylor Report The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report is the report of an inquiry which was overseen by Lord Justice Taylor, into the causes of the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989, as a result of which, ...

, the Manor Ground's terracing was rapidly becoming antiquated, and it gained a reputation amongst fans as one of the more dilapidated stadiums in English professional football. The location of the Manor Ground was unsuitable for conversion into an all-seater stadium, so the club decided to move to a purpose-built all-seater stadium (later to be named the

Kassam Stadium The Kassam Stadium (also known as Grenoble Road) is the home of Oxford United Football Club, and is named after the ground's owner and former chairman of the football club, Firoz Kassam. The Kassam Stadium currently hosts League One (third t ...

) on the outskirts of the city, on land near the

Blackbird Leys Blackbird Leys is a civil parish and ward in Oxford, England. According to the 2011 census, the population of the ward (whose boundaries may change occasionally so as to ensure minimal malapportionment) stood at 6,077. Unlike most parts of the ...

housing estate. Construction work began in the early part of 1997, but was suspended later that year because of the club's financial problems. Construction of the new stadium resumed in 1999 following a takeover deal and Oxford moved there in 2001. The last league match at the Manor, on 1 May 2001, was a 1–1 draw with

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

. Andy Scott opened the scoring after 82 minutes as the Us looked set for a final home victory, but a minute from the end Tony Naylor equalised. Oxford's final season at the Manor Ground was one of the worst in their history: the club finished bottom of Division Two with 27 points and were relegated to

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the ...

, their lowest standing in 35 years. The stadium was later demolished and is now the site of The Manor Hospital, a

private hospital A private hospital is a hospital not owned by the government, including for-profits and non-profits. Funding is by patients themselves ("self-pay"), by insurers, or by foreign embassies. Private hospitals are commonly part, albeit in varying degr ...

owned and operated by

Nuffield Health Nuffield Health is the United Kingdom's largest healthcare charity. Established in 1957 the charity operates 31 Nuffield Health Hospitals and 114 Nuffield Health Fitness & Wellbeing Centres. It is independent of the National Health Service and ...

References

External links

* Defunct football venues in England Manor Ground Defunct sports venues in Oxford Parks and open spaces in Oxford Sports venues demolished in 2001 English Football League venues Demolished sports venues in the United Kingdom {{England-sports-venue-stub