Oxford United

Headington, the suburb on Oxford's eastern edge, gave a football club its first pitch and its first name. Headington F.C., later Headington United, worked its way up through non-league football until ambition outgrew the name: it became Oxford United in 1960, and election to the Football League followed two years later.

What the club is now was largely decided by one owner. Robert Maxwell took over in 1982 and pushed Oxford through the divisions inside a few seasons — promotion to the First Division in 1985, then the League Cup the year after, QPR beaten 3-0 in the final. It is still the only major trophy in the cabinet. Maxwell's death in 1991, and the collapse of the business empire behind him, dragged the club back down just as fast, and by 2006 Oxford had fallen out of the Football League entirely — the first holder of a major English trophy to drop that far. Getting back took until 2010, settled by a play-off win out of the Conference. A second climb, through the League One play-offs in 2024, returned Oxford to the Championship; a single season later, in 2026, they went straight back down.

Supporters call them the U's, short for United, though the yellow shirts and dark blue shorts have earned the same nickname a second way, as the Yellows. The fixture that still matters most is against Swindon Town, along the A420 that links the two towns; Reading, further down the Thames Valley, is the quieter rival. Home since 2001 has been the Kassam Stadium, all-seated and holding 12,500 — a number the club wants behind it, with a 16,000-seat replacement on the drawing board.