In big footballing cities
like Manchester and Liverpool, young supporters quickly learn to pick
a side among the febrile atmosphere of local rivalry. This sees the
city carved in half along club allegiances and the eternal tussle for
supremacy being renewed with each passing generation.
The situation has always
been rather different in Oxford. With a considerably smaller
population of supporters, the area is
able to sustain just one reasonably-sized club and fans gravitate
towards the city’s senior side, with little competition for
supporters or league honours to fan the flames of rivalry with
Oxfordshire’s other clubs.
Prior to World War Two
that ‘senior club’ was undoubtedly Oxford City and local football
fans flocked to the White House Ground in their thousands to watch
City in Isthmian League action. All of this changed when United
adopted professionalism in 1949 and joined the Southern League, with
crowds migrating from the White House to the Manor Ground due to the
appeal of professional football.
Any ill-feeling caused by
the reversal in fortunes of the city’s clubs, however, failed to be
converted into a footballing rivalry due to the fact that the sides
rarely met in competitive matches. The exception to this came in an
FA Cup first round tie in 1951, which pitted the two Oxford clubs
against each other for the first time in the Cup. United's position
as Oxford’s foremost club was confirmed with a 3-0 victory at the
Manor Ground in front of more than 8,000.
United, since then, have
become clearly established as Oxford’s Football League team, with
many supporters looking to non-league City almost as a little brother
to United. In more recent years the two sides have met almost
annually for pre-season friendlies, and City marked the opening of
their Court Place Farm ground in 1993 with a friendly against their
local neighbours. Meetings between the two sides have mostly been
good-natured affairs, but tempers flared after a horror challenge
from City defender Andy Baird on United’s talismanic striker James
Constable in 2009.
On the whole, however,
relations between the two Oxford clubs remain friendly, with former
United stars often pitching up at City later in their careers. Former
U’s favourites Steve Basham, Jamie Cook and Chris Wilmott have all
been influential figures for City in recent seasons and can expect a
warm reception from both sets of fans when the two sides meet on
Tuesday.
But with United and City
now separated by just two levels in the football pyramid and recent
senior personnel changes at City suggesting a greater ambition to go
further still, we could soon see a time when matches between the
city’s two sides are more than just friendlies.
This article first
appeared in Issue 2 of Off the Ball magazine,
which can be downloaded for FREE here.
2 comments:
young supporters quickly learn to pick a side among the febrile atmosphere of local rivalry. - In some Cities "choosing" a team is down to factors such as religion - it is not just in Glasgow - but Dundee, Edinburgh, Manchester (United are the Catholic team - Ron Atkinson was the first non-Catholic to manage them) - Liverpool are Catholic Everton are Protestant - Sometimes it is down to geography such as Sheffield - Wednesday are the North part of the City, United are the Southern side. In Bradford it was whether you were working class or Middle class - City for the workers, and Park Avenue for the Toffs, but with the decline of Park Avenue that is no longer a factor
Grreat post thank you
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