Oxford United Football Club 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 th ...

is an English

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

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 The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

in 1962, replacing Accrington Stanley. Promotion to the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

followed in 1965, and the club were promoted again 3 years later and enjoyed an eight-year spell in the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

, 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 The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

. Apart from relegation to the redesignated Second Division (the old Third Division after the creation of the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

) 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 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 f ...

, 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 The 2010 Conference Premier play-off Final, known as the 2010 Blue Square Premier play-off Final for sponsorship purposes, was a football match between Oxford United and York City on 16 May 2010 at Wembley Stadium in London. It was the eighth Co ...

. After six seasons in

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

they finished 2nd in the table and were promoted to League One, the third tier of the English football pyramid.

Seasons

Key

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. Key to league record: *P = Played *W = Games won *D = Games drawn *L = Games lost *F = Goals for *A = Goals against *Pts = Points *Pos = Final position Key to divisions: *Div 1 =

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

*Div 2 =

*Div 3 =

*Div 4 =

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

*Lge 2 =

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

*Conf Nat =

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

*OCJ = Oxfordshire City Junior A Division *ODL = Oxfordshire District League *OSC =

Oxfordshire Senior Cup The Oxfordshire Senior Cup is the senior county cup of the Oxfordshire Football Association. The competition was first contested in the 1884–85 season. Winners (up to 2022/23 season inclusive) *Oxford City 36 (inc. one shared) * Headingto ...

*Oxon =

Oxfordshire Senior Football League The Oxfordshire Senior Football League is an association football competition based in Oxfordshire, England. The league has three divisions; the Premier Division comprising clubs' first teams, whilst the other two divisions are reserve and devel ...

*SLP = Southern Football League Premier *SP1W = Spartan League Division 1 (Western) *AIC =

Anglo-Italian Cup The Anglo-Italian Cup ( it, Coppa Anglo-Italiana, also known as the Anglo-Italian Inter-League Clubs Competition and from 1976 to 1986 as the Alitalia Challenge Cup, Talbot Challenge Cup or Gigi Peronace Memorial) is a defunct European football c ...

*AMC =

Associate Members Cup The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

*CLC = Conference League Cup *FAT =

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

*FLGC =

Football League Group Cup The Football League Group Cup was a short-lived football competition which first took place during the 1981–82 season. For English clubs it was a replacement for the Anglo-Scottish Cup, which had been discontinued due to the withdrawal of Scott ...

*FLT =

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

*FMC = Full Members Cup *SLC = Southern League Cup Key to rounds: *Expre = Extra Preliminary round *Prelim = Preliminary round *Q1 = Qualifying Round 1 *Q2 = Qualifying Round 2 *Q3 = Qualifying Round 3 *Q4 = Qualifying Round 4 *R1 = Round 1 *R2 = Round 2 *R3 = Round 3 *R4 = Round 4 *R5 = Round 5 *R6 = Round 6 *Grp = Group stage *AQF = Area Quarter-finals *QF = Quarter-finals *ASF = Area Semi-finals *SF = Semi-finals *F = Southern Final *Final = Runners-Up *W = Winners

Notes

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 The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

on formation of the F.A.

.
P. Football League Division Three renamed "

" 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 The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, 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 Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

2–0 at Wembley Stadium.

References

;General * * * * ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Oxford United F.C. seasons English football club seasons Seasons Oxford-related lists