Oxford United took the long road back to the second tier of English football. After they were relegated from what was then Division One in 1999, they spent the next quarter of a century dropping and then climbing again.
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They changed direction only once, in 2009-10, when they were promoted after four years in the Conference. Rock bottom, it turned out, was ninth place in the fifth division.
Oxford United are battling hard against relegation in their second Championship season
Des Buckingham was the manager who completed the laborious upward swing, securing promotion to the Championship by way of the play-offs at the end of the 2023-24 season.
Oxford have been through all the usual things a football club goes through in 25 years but the focus this season is simply to avoid going into reverse.
Now managed by former Birmingham City and Derby County boss Gary Rowett, the U’s started Friday’s home fixture against Ipswich Town not only in the relegation zone but winless in five matches.
Sheffield United, one point ahead and on the right side of the dotted line, had won two in a row.
There’s a long way to go in the notoriously treacherous Championship and the relegation battle alone tends to produce late-season drama, but as the three sides of the Kassam Stadium lit up on this Friday night it was hard not to call to mind how long Oxford were in second-tier exile and just how far they fell.
The size of the immediate task wasn’t lost on the supporters unwittingly broadcasting their predictions over the hum of a stadium cranking into life.
A win for Ipswich would take Kieran McKenna’s men into the automatic promotion places, temporarily at least, and they were heavy favourites after winning four of their last six Championship matches. Three of them were away from home.
McKenna and Rowett have constructed teams that represent a lot of what’s enjoyable about the Championship: Ipswich quick and slick over short distances but willing to open up the pitch, Oxford an all-action unit mobilised by the fans singing under two yellow and blue flags at the back of the East Stand.
The U’s took the lead and it amped them up still further. They wobbled after conceding an equaliser, but they would not wilt. An impressive, low-possession 2-1 win was their reward.
“I have to say I'm really disappointed with the goal conceded,” admitted Rowett when he spoke to the media after the match at the Kassam Stadium.
“It's a good finish, but we get blocked too easily. At that moment then there was a real decision to make. Do we sit in and just hang on to a point or do we show a little bit of quality and character, make changes, and be ambitious?
“I thought we stepped up well… and thankfully got the goal to show for it.”
Oxford weathered the pressure of a recent Premier League outfit giving it all they’ve got but scored a terrific, simple, nicely finished goal on the break to win their second home game of the season by sheer force of will.
They deserved it, too. They didn’t pull a punch all night and if fire in the belly is a prerequisite for survival then Oxford’s visit to the relegation zone, truncated by three points against promotion hopefuls, will be the season’s nadir.
Considering the time it took to correct course last time they changed direction, Oxford supporters will be forgiven for clinging to that thought.
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