1984/85
League:
Level
Canon League Division 2
Position:
Champions
FA Cup:
Fourth Round
League Cup:
Fourth Round
Chairman:
Robert Maxwell
Manager:
Jim Smith
Top Scorer:
John Aldridge (34)
Notable Players:
John Aldridge, Gary Briggs, Kevin Brock, Jeremy Charles, Billy Hamilton, Steve Hardwick, Trevor Hebberd, David Langan, Bobby McDonald, Peter Rhoades-Brown, Malcolm Shotton.
Newly promoted Oxford United made light work of Division 2, making history by becoming the first English club to win promotion as champions in successive seasons.
Kit Manufacturer
This was to be Spall's last season with Oxford, but what a time, with the club enjoying its most successful period, with multiple promotions and giant-killing cup runs.
Sponsor
The sponsor's logo was now in blue lettering and applied using crude sewn-on characters. These particular shirts featured for just two months.
Other shirt variations were to feature more regularly, full details are outlined below.
Home Kit & Away Variation
Long
sleeves
Apart from the new style of BPCC lettering, the kit remained largely unchanged from the previous two seasons. However, there were subtle differences, most notably the shirt crest, which was now wrapped in text commemorating the team's status as Division 3 Champions.
The small Spall motifs that had previously appeared on the sleeves were removed, and the blue shorts now featured pinstripes and a small white Spall motif.
The sewn block numbers from the previous two seasons were replaced with more traditional sans-serif numerals.
1982 & 1983
Shirts
1984
BPCC Shirt
Away Kit
Long
sleeves
The third choice kit from the 83/84 season was the template for a new all-white away kit.
This particular variation featured only once, away at Wimbledon.
Goalkeeper Jerseys
There were two jersey styles with different collar designs. One with white embroidery in a reversed position on the chest. The other with identical embroidery as the outfield shirts.
Sponsor Change
Long
sleeves
From the middle of October, another Robert Maxwell business, the Sunday People newspaper, became the shirt sponsor.
It might be easy to assume that the large logo panels were simply added over the existing BPCC lettering on the match shirts. In reality, they were brand-new shirts, featuring yet another variation in the shirt numbers - this time with a screen-printed, block-shadow style.
1984 BPCC
Shirt
Sewn
Sunday People
Shirt
Printed
TV Shirts
Long
sleeves
When TV cameras were present, Oxford United reverted to the BPCC shirts from the 1983/84 season.
Under Football League regulations at the time, only one shirt sponsor was permitted per season in televised matches. Consequently, the Sunday People shirts could not be worn.
It also appears that for these fixtures, the goalkeeper jersey was unsponsored.
Match By Match
Huddersfield
Away
W 0-3
Hereford
Away
D 2-2
LC1
Portsmouth
Home
D 1-1
Hereford
Home
W 5-3
LC1
Wimbledon
Away
W 1-3
Fulham
Home
W 3-2
Wolves
Home
W 3-1
Grimsby
Away
W 1-2
Blackburn
Away
D 1-1
LC2
Carlisle
Home
W 4-0
Man City
Away
L 1-0
Blackburn
Home
W 3-1
LC2R
Brighton
Home
W 2-1
Sheffield U
Home
W 5-1
Birmingham Away
D 0-0
Arsenal
Home
W 3-2
LC3
Blackburn
Home
W 2-1
Shrewsbury
Away
D 2-2
Oldham
Away
D 0-0
Ipswich
Away
L 2-1
LC4
Leeds
Home
W 5-2
Notts C
Away
L 2-0
Charlton
Home
W 5-0
Portsmouth
Away
L 2-1
Cardiff
Home
W 4-0
C Palace
Home
W 5-0
Middlesboro'
Away
W 0-1
Shrewsbury
Away
W 0-2
FAC3
Blackburn
Home
L 0-1
FAC4
Carlisle
Away
W 0-1
C Palace
Away
L 1-0
Fulham
Away
L 1-0
Blackburn
Away
D 1-1
Birmingham
Home
L 0-3
Sheffield U
Away
D 1-1
Wimbledon
Home
W 4-0
Brighton
Away
D 0-0
Man City
Home
W 3-0
Grimsby
Home
W 1-0
Barnsley
Away
L 3-0
Cardiff
Away
W 0-2
Middlesboro'
Home
W 1-0
Wolves
Away
W 1-2
Huddersfield
Home
W 3-0
Oldham
Home
W 5-2
Shrewsbury
Home
W 1-0
Leeds
Away
L 1-0
Notts C
Home
D 1-1
Charlton
Away
D 3-3
Barnsley
Home
W 4-0
Rarities
The crude iron-on lettering used for the 1984 BPCC shirts was also used on a set of shirts featuring the Pergamon name.
There was also a white set of 'TV Shirts'.
Neither featured in a first team game, but were used by the reserves.
The red away kit used in '82 and '83 was produced with the 1984 crest, but this never saw first-team action.