Oxford are much improved from earlier in the season, they are unbeaten in their last 5 matches and are currently 12th with 23 points.

Last time out they had their biggest win of the season beating Port Vale 4-0 with Bodin (replacing the suspended Brannagan) & Taylor both scoring twice.

By Train –  unusually, this is somewhere that can be reached by train by Rovers fans with plenty of options to get back after the game.  The only snag is that the station is 4 miles from the ground, meaning a bus or taxi to and from the ground.

Buses – Stagecoach route 1 and The Oxford Bus Company route City 5 run at frequent intervals (every 4-10 minutes combined) from the station to Knights Road, a five-minute walk to the ground. Oxford Plus Bus tickets are valid on both routes. Return or 24-hour passes bought from the driver on route 1 can be used to travel back to the station on the City 5 and vice versa. Click HERE for the route timetable and prices

Taxis will take around 15 minutes to get to the ground from the rank outside the station.

For details of other bus services to the ground from places in the Oxford area including some Football Specials click here – Getting Here – Oxford United (oufc.co.uk)

By Car – The address & postcode for Oxford Utd’s home at the Kassam Stadium is Grenoble Road Oxford OX4 4XP.

It should take about 1 hour 30 minutes to Oxford from the Stroud area.

Parking – The stadium has unreserved spaces for around 2,000 cars at each game. Parking is free of charge and on a first come, first served basis. For big games, the main car park does get full before kick-off although there is generally still space in the overflow parking at the back of the Vue Cinema just past the club shop.

In case the match is dull click here to see what film is showing at the Oxford Vue cinema – Oxford Cinema | Oxford Cinema Film Listings & Times | Vue (myvue.com)

At each game, a fence is put up behind the North Stand which means that supporters cannot walk from one end of the ground to the other, therefore please park at the correct end of the ground.

There are 2,000 free car-parking spaces at the stadium available on a first-come basis, including dedicated disabled bays adjacent to the away ticket office.

The Yellow Car Park behind the East Stand opens at midday for Saturday matches and a steward will guide fans to a parking place. Once the car park is full the club will tweet this fact (@OUFCOfficial) to allow supporters to make other arrangements.

Parking Near the Ground – There is some road parking near the ground with spaces between the stadium and the Watlington Road roundabout. All supporters attending games are asked to respect the Residents Only schemes that operate in the nearby streets and not to park on the double yellow lines on approach roads. The lines do include the grass verges along the edge of the road – you will be very likely to get a parking ticket.   The Royal British Legion at Littlemore (Littlemore, Oxford, OX4 4LZ) is available for parking for patrons using the facility.

The advice is – Arrive as early as possible to get a parking space – there is only one road into the site, so the queues can become lengthy as kick-off approaches. The Club share the car park with other facilities on the complex, including a cinema and bowling alley, and there can be a wait to exit the car park after the match.

Disabled Supporters
There are specific marked bays for disabled supporters near to each stand. Click HERE for full information for supporters with disabilities or call 01865 337533.

There are no pubs in close vicinity to the stadium There is a bar in the nearby Holiday Inn Express Hotel, but this no longer allows in away fans.

There is the nearby Ozone Leisure Centre, between the west car park and the overflow car park, which features a Vue Cinema, Hollywood Bowl, Frankie & Bennys, Oxy Oriental, Ozone Plaice fish and chips and the Oxford United club shop. The Bowling Alley has a bar with Sky TV and fast food.

 In Littlemore there is the British Legion Club (OX4 4LZ) which also welcomes away fans. You are also able to park your car there for the duration of the game. Please note though that for certain high-profile games (on Police advice) that the Club does not admit visiting supporters – probably wouldn’t apply to FGR.

The Catherine Wheel in Sandford (OX4 4YP) serves food (Indian is their specialty) and a large selection of beers with real ale. Usually open from 12noon on matchdays. It’s a 20-minute walk to the stadium.  Call them on 01865 580226 for reservation or further details. (https://www.facebook.com/TCWSANDFORD)

The George in Littlemore (OX4 4PU) not far from Sainsbury’s is an old-fashioned pub with TVs, showing the early kick off match, and a beer garden. There is on-site car parking, and it is then a 20-minute walk to the stadium (01865 779341).

The Golden Ball in Littlemore (OX4 4LQ) also serves food and has a beer garden and parking (01865 806558). It’s around a 15-minute walk to the stadium.

Whilst the Kings Arms (OX4 4YB) is in a splendid location on the banks of the River Thames and is part of the Chef & Brewer chain (01865777095).

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Visiting fans are located at the west (open) end of the North Stand. The away fans’ ticket office is by the west turnstiles in the North Stand.The facilities within and the views of the playing action are excellent, and there is also good leg room. 

Match programmes are available inside the concourse and from sellers around the ground and in the club shop, which is adjacent to the DW Fitness gym in the Ozone Leisure Centre. The Match Programme costs £3 and is available all around the ground

The stadium offers food and drinks (including alcoholic drinks) in the concourse.

There are also outlets in the car park, usually located by the south-west and south-east corners of the ground. Note these operate cashless payment.

Cameron Brannagan

An academy graduate of Liverpool, Brannagan made his senior debut in 2015 but managed just nine appearances for the club. He joined Fleetwood on loan in 2017 before signing for Oxford United on a permanent deal the following year. A midfielder who scores goals too. He is currently Oxford’s top scorer with 7 goals.

Karl Robinson has managed Oxford United since March 2018. He previously managed MK Dons and Charlton Athletic. As a player he played for several non-league teams.

Oxford Manager – Karl Robinson

Striker Matty Taylor was born in Oxford and was part of the Oxford Academy making seven substitute appearances but was released in 2009 just days after helping Oxford win the Oxfordshire Cup. He then played for Didcot and North Leigh.

Matty Taylor turned full time professional with FGR and played ninety-six times, scoring twenty-two goals between 2011 to 2014. He left to join Bristol Rovers and then moved to Bristol City before re-joining Oxford United in July 2020.

Armani Little was an Oxford player from July 18 to July 19 but only made one substitutes appearance.

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FGR Connection – Matty Taylor

Founded in 1893 as Headington United, Oxford United adopted its current name in 1960. It joined the Football League in 1962 after winning the Southern Football League, reaching the Second Division in 1968. After relegation in 1976, between 1984 and 1986 the club earned successive promotions into the First Division, and won the League Cup in 1986. However, Oxford was unable thereby to enter the  1987 UEFA Cup because of the UEFA ban on English clubs in European competitions. Relegation from the top flight in 1988 began an 18-year decline which saw the club relegated to the Conference in 2006, becoming the first winners of a major trophy to be relegated from the Football League. After four seasons, Oxford returned to League Two in 2010 via the playoffs, and six seasons later achieved promotion to League One, after finishing second in League Two in 2016.

The club crest is a sort of visual pun, it depicts an ox above a ford to symbolise the location. In 2008, a bronze statue of an ox was unveiled outside of what would have been the west stand. It was subsequently vandalised in January 2011, being covered in pink paint and the club used the opportunity to raise money for a breast cancer charity. The club mascot is, unsurprisingly, an ox called Ollie.

Ron Atkinson holds the club record for the most overall appearances for Oxford with 560. In total, nineteen players have made international appearances while playing for the club.

Since 2001, Oxford United have played at the Kassam Stadium, previously they played at the Manor Ground. The Kazzam Stadium hosted its first football match on 4 August 2001, it was a friendly match against a top team – Crystal Palace, which Oxford very luckily won on penalties following a 1–1 draw.

The all-seater stadium has a capacity of 12,500 and has only three stands instead of the usual four; when first planned in 1995 it was originally going to have a 16,000-seat capacity, but by the time the stadium opened Oxford was playing in a lower division, so the smaller capacity was deemed adequate.

The record attendance is 12,243, which was achieved in the final game of the 2005–06 season, when a defeat against Leyton Orient condemned them to relegation from the Football League. On Boxing Day 2006, a crowd of 11,065 watched United draw 0–0 with Woking at the Kassam Stadium, the largest-ever attendance for a Conference match (excluding play-offs). Although in June 2006, Sir Elton John played a concert to a crowd of around 16,500. In the event of an emergency the Kazzam Stadium would be used under emergency powers which exist under contingency plans for the partial evacuation of London so that might result in a record crowd.

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Oxford United Mascot Ollie the Ox

In 2001, Bishop of Oxford Richard Harries, now Baron Harries of Pentregarth, allegedly conducted an exorcism after the feeling of a malicious force and the team’s loss of thirteen of their first seventeen games at the new stadium was blamed on a curse placed on the club by a man who had been evicted from the site during construction. The Bishop’s spokesman, however, told the BBC Radio 4 “What the Bishop did was what many clergy do, which is bless the ground. He used a prayer which said: ‘Bless this place and protect it from evil.'”

The Kazzam stadium is still owned by Firoz Kazzam although he no longer owns the club. Oxford United’s lease on the Kassam Stadium runs out in 2026 and the club is looking to move to a new ground at Kidlington, technically outside Oxford. One of the driving forces is that car usage at the Kazzam Stadium is about 90% whereas at the proposed new location that would drop to 10%.

Oxford United: Club seeks move from the ‘cursed’ Kassam Stadium – BBC News

Oxford’s Kassam Stadium

• Woody Harrelson – Hollywood actor
• Richard Branson – Entrepreneur
• Timmy Mallett – Entertainer
• Tim Henman – Tennis player
• Jim Rosenthal – Sports broadcaster
• Desmond Morris – Anthropologist

The ‘Utterly Brilliant!’ Timmy Mallet supporting Oxford United.

In 2002, Mallett made West Ham agree to stop selling copies of their mascot, Herbie the Hammer, in their club shop after he complained that it looked too similar to Pinky Punky. West Ham United withdrew the item.

Oxford student Roger Bannister – first person to run a mile in under 4 minutes.