The Oxford United Chairman, Sumrith 'Tiger' Thanakarnjanasuth, wrote the following programme notes for the game against Bristol Rovers in the Emirates FA Cup first round:
There are many reasons why I fell in love with English football growing up in Bangkok and the FA Cup is very high on the list. I love the passion, the upsets and the drama you get each year. One team always catches the attention with a run that the supporters never forget; this year why can’t it be Oxford United?
We know the team are in great form and the last two weeks have seen some very impressive performances. Most recently, we saw the players beat Morecambe last weekend and that felt like an important win. I spoke with Karl, and he thought we were not at our best but if we win 3-1 every week and miss a penalty as well, we will be just fine! I don’t want to see a penalty miss again!
Some of the football this team plays is so easy to watch, but I think that takes attention away from the excellent defending we do. Simon Eastwood comes into the side and slots straight in, Elliott Moore was my Man of the Match last week, but the sponsors gave it to another defender, Steve Seddon, while Jordan Thorniley and Sam Long were also excellent, and Alex Gorrin covers them and does a great job for the team. Karl loves to play exciting football, but you do need security at the back and at the moment every part of the team is functioning, with some excellent players pushing for their chance as well.
Away from the game itself, it was so encouraging to see a crowd of over 8,500 home fans. A quick mention to the 200 who travelled down from Morecambe, a long day out, but I thought our home support was amazing and the day belonged to you. Thank you for your support.
We already reduced the prices for today’s game, so we have done what we intended to do at the last two games; make the game affordable and try to encourage people to come back and enjoy being part of a crowd again at a live football match. As I said last week, it will take time for the world to get back to normal and for everyone to feel comfortable in a crowd, but last Saturday felt like a big step in the right direction and I hope we continue that today.
Bristol will bring a lot of fans and they will make a lot of noise. Great, that is what we want for an FA Cup game. It should be a good atmosphere, two good teams and the best cup competition in the world.
Enjoy the day.
Tiger
You can read the full programme online at www.matchdayfix.com/oufc