Oxford United F.C. - Supporters and Rivals

Supporters and Rivals

Oxford have a number of independent supporters' clubs and groups such as OxVox (the Oxford United Supporters' Trust) with a current membership of over 400, and the Oxford United Exiles. OxVox was formed in 2002, to replace the disbanded FOUL group, which broke up after the immediate future of the club was secured. It was the fiftieth supporters trust created under the Supporters' trust banner. The club itself also runs a Juniors club, aimed at younger fans and offering a number of bonuses to the club's members such as birthday cards and a free T-shirt. The official matchday programme for home games costs £3 and was voted best Blue Square Premier Programme of the Year for the 2007–08 season. A number of songs are sung during home games, such as Yellow Submarine (with adapted lyrics) and songs relating to the old Manor Ground.

The club have a number of celebrity supporters, including Richard Branson, Timmy Mallett, Tim Henman and Jim Rosenthal. The club's mascot is Ollie the Ox. United were the best-supported club in the Conference National before Luton Town joined the division. The home match between Oxford and Luton, which drew a crowd of 10,600, was used to highlight the passion for English football during the 2018 World Cup bid. In 2009, a "12th man fund" was set up by a group of supporters in order to provide additional transfer funds to the club. As a result, the number 12 shirt was retired at the start of the 2009–10 season. The fund has raised over £40,000 and has resulted in the signings of Mehdi Kerrouche (on loan) and Jamie Cook, amongst others.

In a 2003 survey of football fans, Oxford's main rivals were Swindon Town, with Reading and Wycombe Wanderers seen as the other rival teams. The rivalry with Swindon stems from the clubs' close proximity, as well as the fact they have played each other 55 times since 1962. Oxford (Headington) and Swindon have met a few times in Friendlies prior to 62. The earliest match on record was a friendly in 50/51 season at Headington. They also played each other in 54/55 both home and away, and at Headington during 58/59. All programmes are fairly scarce, with the single sheet issued at Swindon being very rare. The 62/63 game was a testimonial, with the first league meetings coming in 65/66.--Deantheguvnor (talk) 16:41, 12 September 2012 (UTC) During the height of football hooliganism, trouble flared up between the sets of fans. In 1998, 19 Swindon supporters were arrested during a match at the County Ground, while in 2002 there was an incident between supporters after Oxford fans returned from an away fixture. In 2011, vandals burned the initials SFTC (misspelling STFC) into the Kassam Stadium's pitch. This was thought to have been done by Swindon Town fans. Oxford fans use nicknames when talking about Swindon such as moonraker, in reference to the myth that they tried to rake the reflection of the moon out of a pond. The rivalry with Reading was heightened during the chairmanship of Robert Maxwell, due to his desire to merge the two clubs. This was met with strong opposition from both sets of fans, with United supporters staging a "sit-in" on the pitch before a game against Wigan in protest. Despite being the second team in the city, there is less rivalry with Oxford City due to their lower position in the pyramid system (there have been no competitive matches between the two since 1959).