2009/10
League:
Level
Blue Square Premier
Position:
3rd - Play-off Final Winners
Promoted back into the Football League
FA Cup:
Second Round
FA Trophy:
Fourth Round
Chairman:
Kelvin Thomas
Manager:
Chris Wilder
Top Scorer:
James Constable (23)
Notable Players:
Damian Batt, Adam Chapman, Simon Clist, James Constable, Mark Creighton, Sam Deering, Matt Green, Steve Kinniburgh, Jack Midson, Adam Murray, Alfie Potter, Jake Wright.
Kit Manufacturer
Nike became Oxford’s kit supplier, which initially proved a popular choice for supporters.
Sponsors
This was to be the last season that Buildbase would feature on the Oxford United shirts. Car dealership Hartwell became the back-of-shirt sponsors, whilst JackFM moved down to the rear shorts.
Football Conference Branding
The Conference League saw no changes to their branding.
Home Kit & Away Variation
With Base
Layer
The club faced a limited selection of yellow kit designs from Nike’s rather uninspiring cataloge. While Premier League clubs had the luxury of custom kit designs, lower league teams were restricted to choosing from off-the-shelf options.
Unusually, there was not an all-yellow away variation.
For the first time, Oxford United exclusively wore short-sleeved shirts, prompting players to wear thermal base layers during the colder months. Interestingly, long-sleeved shirts were still available for purchase by fans.
Away Kit & Variations
With Base
Layer
The away shirt featured a very plain round neck design, resembling little more than a basic t-shirt.
For the first half of the season white socks from Nike's Brazil template featured, which had black turnovers, however, these were replaced with plain socks for the second half of the season.
Buildbase's sister company ‘Plumbase’ name was used on the change shirts.
Home Goalkeeper Kits
The goalkeeper shirts featured a template that had been used frequently amongst Premier League clubs the previous season.
They featured an odd thick piping band on the collar which rather clumsily swapped position in the centre, before crossing the chest.
The royal blue jersey was considered to be the number one choice.
Away Goalkeeper Kits
An odd sky blue shirt was used for a handful of games, such as when playing away at York against their blue/red halved shirts.
Exact details of this sky shirt have been hard to research, with only a few grainy photos, but I have found this template worn by continental teams during 2008.
Wembley Shirt
After narrowly missing out on the playoffs the previous year, Oxford United went one better by reaching the Play-Off Final at the new Wembley Stadium.
In an impressive match, they defeated York City 3-1, securing their return to the Football League.
True to Wembley tradition, Oxford United wore specially embroidered shirts for the occasion.
Match by Match
York City
Home
W 2-1
Kettering
Away
D 1-1
Histon
Away
W 3-4
Stevenage
Home
W 2-1
AFC Wimb
Away
W 0-1
Forest Green
Home
D 0-0
Ebbesfleet
Away
W 0-2
Luton
Home
W 2-0
Wrexham
Away
W 0-1
Eastbourne
Home
W 4-0
Mansfield
Away
L 2-1
Gateshead
Away
W 0-1
Crawley
Home
W 3-1
Barrow
Away
D 1-1
Grays Ath
Home
W 5-0
York City
Away
D 1-1
Thurrock
Home
W 2-0
Altringham
Home
W 1-0
Yeovil
Home
W 1-0
FAC1
Kidderminster
Away
L 3-1
Barrow
Home
W 1-0
Forest Green
Away
W 0-1
Barrow
Home
D 1-1
FAC2
Crawley
Away
W 1-2
Ebbesfleet
Home
W 4-2
Barrow
Away
L 3-1
FAC2R
Hayes & Yeading
Home
W 1-0
FAT1
Salisbury
Away
D 1-1
Tamworth
Home
L 0-1
Woking
Home
W 1-0
FAT2
Grays Ath
Away
W 0-4
Chelmsford
Away
W 1-3
FAT3
Kidderminster
Home
D 1-1
Luton
Away
L 2-1
Histon
Home
W 2-0
Rushden
Home
W 1-0
Kidderminster
Home
L 1-2
FAT4
AFC Wimb
Home
W 2-0
Cambridge
Away
D 1-1
Hayes & Yeading
Home
L 1-2
Kettering
Home
D 1-1
Tamworth
Away
D 0-0
Rushden
Away
D 1-1
Gateshead
Home
W 2-1
Stevenage
Home
L 0-1
Hayes & Yeading
Away
L 2-1
Salisbury
Home
W 1-0
Altrincham
Away
W 0-1
Cambridge
Home
D 0-0
Mansfield
Home
W 2-0
Wrexham
Home
W 1-0
Eastbourne
Away
L 1-0
Rushden
Away
D 1-1
Play-off 1
Rushden
Home
W 2-0
Play-off 2
York City
Wembley
W 1-3
Play-off Final