Welcome to today’s game against local rivals Northampton Town.
In many respects, we have mirrored each other’s progress over the last couple of seasons and it is a great pleasure to welcome Kelvin Thomas, fans, players and officials from Northampton.
Today is, of course, the 11th November and as a club we are proud to support the Royal British Legions’ Poppy Appeal as we remember with deep gratitude the sacrifice of so many on our behalf. I am attending the Royal Festival of Remembrance this evening for the first time, which is a great privilege. All the players today are wearing shirts with the Poppy emblem and, after the game, each unique shirt is available for purchase, with all proceeds being donated to the Royal British Legion. For those interested in supporting this, please contact my PA, Cheryl Cooper, on Ccooper@oufc.co.uk.
We return to league action today after a frustrating week in cup competitions. Without question, we are a club who seek progress in all competitions and to go out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle was both unexpected and very disappointing.
Having said this, our neighbours at Oxford City pulled off a magnificent result at Colchester United. We send them our warmest congratulations and let’s hope they can bring about another upset at Notts County. I would like to thank Justin Merritt and Mark Jones for their kind comments about the positive relationship and mutual support between the two Oxford clubs.
We also lost out in midweek in a frenetic cup game against Milton Keynes Dons but fortunately live to fight another day in this season’s Checkatrade Trophy. The competition has been good to us in the past two seasons and we are focused on progressing as far as we can.
We did, however, progress in the FA Youth Cup with a hard fought victory against Gloucester, and we wish Leon and the team every success in the next round against Bristol Rovers at Court Place Farm next Wednesday.
While mentioning Court Place Farm, I would like to thank the 800 or so supporters who came to watch our ladies team put up a defiant showing against the star-studded Manchester City team. We remain unbeaten this season in WSL 2 and continue to play a very exciting brand of football which I hope encourages more fans to attend home games.
Today’s game has also been designated 'Away Day at Home' by the Yellow Army and the club is delighted to support this. We have frequently commented on our amazing away support and the atmosphere created. It would be great to create a similar atmosphere at today’s game, which should also be helped by a healthy contingent from Northampton.
Enjoy the game and COYY!
Darryl
You can read the full programme online at www.matchdayfix.com/oufc