Oxford City

Oxford City spent last season back below the level they had reached for the first time in their history, having dropped out of the National League after a single campaign. Marsh Lane, known now as the MGroup Stadium and holding 3,100, is where that brief top-flight stay played out before relegation sent the Hoops back down.

The promotion itself came in 2023, when Ross Jenkins's side beat St Albans City 4-0 in the National League South play-off final. It was the highest Oxford City had ever climbed, and the club had waited a long time for a run of that kind: the previous notable play-off win, in the Southern Football League, dated back to 2012, and before that to 2008. Between those two came a quieter stretch of regional titles — the Isthmian League Division One in 1995–96 and two Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division championships either side of it.

Further back still sits the FA Amateur Cup, won in 1905–06, from an era when City were reconstituted after their original 1882 formation had lapsed. The blue-and-white hoops that gave the club its nickname have stayed constant through all of it.

Across the city, Oxford United provide the derby that matters most to supporters at Marsh Lane; Banbury United fill the more regional rivalry. Among the current squad, Chris Palmer is the name most followed at the club.