Oxford United F.C. - Stadiums

Stadiums

Oxford United had no regular home until 1913, switching between the Quarry Recreation Ground, Wootten's Field, Sandy Lane and Britannia Field, all in Headington. In 1913 they were able to purchase Wootten's Field on London Road, however, this was redeveloped in 1920 before a stadium could be built. Having purchased the Sandy Lane site, the club developed and played at the Manor Ground between 1925 and 2001. The ground was originally shared with Headington Cricket Club until 1949, when they moved to Cowley Barracks. The capacity at closure was 9,500, but hosted United's record crowd of 22,750 against Preston North End in an FA Cup sixth-round match on 29 February 1964. The four stands were named after the roads they were positioned on: The North, East, South and West stands were called Cuckoo Lane, Osler Road, London Road and Beech Road respectively. In the 1990s, the Taylor Report was published calling for the improvement of football stadiums. The Manor Ground's terracing was becoming redundant and redeveloping the ground was too costly, so the club decided to move to a purpose-built all-seater stadium on the outskirts of the city, costing in the region of £15 million. Construction work began in the early part of 1997, but was suspended later that year due to the club's financial problems. Construction of the new stadium resumed in 1999 following a takeover deal and the last league match at the Manor on 1 May 2001 saw a 1–1 draw with Port Vale. The site was sold for £12 million and the stadium was later demolished. The land is now occupied by a private hospital.

Since 2001, Oxford United have played at the Kassam Stadium. 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. Construction of the fourth stand is not expected to take place for several years, although foundations have already been put in place. 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. The average attendance in the previous season was 7,415, which was the second highest in League Two and the thirty-fourth highest in the whole Football League. The average attendance was highest in the Conference in two out of the four years the team spent in the division, with the average in the other two years placing second, behind Exeter City and Cambridge United respectively. The stadium has also hosted rugby union matches, a woman's international football match (England v Sweden), an Under-17 international football tournament and music concerts.