For the folks at Oxford City, it can’t be easy knowing you’re an also-ran in your home city; stuck in the shadows of Oxford United. But that’s how it goes sometimes. And it’s not as if the Hoops are the only team to suffer that fate in English football. Think Port Vale or Bristol Rovers too. Back to the club in question, however, and we have one team that didn’t manage to beat us during our ill-fated 1987-8 Vauxhall Opel League Division One season.
Oxford City: The Facts
Court Place Farm Stadium
Marsh Lane, Marston, Oxford, OX3 0NQ
Luckily for us writing this, the Hoops pretty much kept things straightforward for much of their history. The path does get a little more frantic in more recent times, but we’ll get there. It starts in 1885; the club’s first recorded match taking place in that year. The problem is they didn’t really have a regular fixture list in these early years. It’s reported that no fixtures at all were played between 1886 and 1893. Somehow, however, it doesn’t stop the lineage of the club being described as such.
In 1906, the club won the FA Amateur Cup and – not long after – became members of the Isthmian League. The Hoops were a constant presence in the competition for decades after that. Some campaigns were dire, while some offered promise. Alas, they never actually managed to win the title; second position as good as they could manage on two occasions. And, despite turning pro in 1949, the postwar years were lean. They even tried appointing Bobby Moore as manager – but it didn’t deliver much success.
Boro’ didn’t lose to the Hoops during the 1987-8 season, but we did get relegated. For them, 12th position didn’t spell success or failure. But a decision by Brasenose College to sell the club’s home meant they had nowhere to play. And that led to their resignation from Isthmian League. You could say that was the end of the line for the Hoops. Technically, they had to reform and that didn’t happen until 1990 when they signed up for South Midlands League Division One.
Inside three seasons, the Hoops worked their way through the South Midlands League and returned to the Isthmian League. The 2000s weren’t all that straightforward, however. From 2004, the club moved into the Southern League and were immediately relegate to the Spartan South Midlands League. The return was an instant one to the Southern League; gradually building back better to finish second in 2012. With it came a chance to compete in Conference North – and then South. In 2023, they reached the National League.
How to get to Oxford City – Travel Information – Distance: 70 miles
By Road
The easiest way to do this without going via Aylesbury is to take the A1(M) south and M25 counter-clockwise. Then, take the M40 north for about 28.5 miles. Exit for the A40 towards Oxford. Head into Oxford and take the second exit at Headington Roundabout. Leave the A40 at the exit for Marston and Elsfield, turning left onto Marsh Lane.
There are two car parks at the ground that can be used by all fans. The main one of these is outside the Community Arena. To use it, turn left as soon as you enter the site and keep on the road until you get to the car park.
If it’s full, park in the car park at the entrance to the site.
More car parking details will be announced on social media if the game demands further capacity.
By Rail
Station: OXFORD
Services to: LONDON PADDINGTON
It’s some distance from the station to the ground, so it’s probably a good idea to grab a taxi or something.
We use cookies. Who doesn't? But we have to be boring and make sure you're fine and dandy with it. Cookie SettingsGo On Then
Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Cookie
Duration
Description
_ga
1 year 1 month 4 days
Google Analytics sets this cookie to calculate visitor, session and campaign data and track site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognise unique visitors.
_ga_*
1 year 1 month 4 days
Google Analytics sets this cookie to store and count page views.
CONSENT
2 years
YouTube sets this cookie via embedded YouTube videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Cookie
Duration
Description
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
6 months
YouTube sets this cookie to measure bandwidth, determining whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSC
session
Youtube sets this cookie to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devices
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt-remote-device-id
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt.innertube::nextId
never
YouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requests
never
YouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.