Oxford United Chairman Grant Ferguson wrote the following notes for the programme for the Sky Bet League One game against Port Vale
Welcome back everyone as we take on Port Vale. While football is important, so are many other things, such as our liberty and freedom. It is therefore right that this weekend we salute those who gave their lives for their country and ask you all to join us in showing respect to them with a minute’s silence for Remembrance weekend before kick-off.
A useful point at Shrewsbury kept things moving in the right direction, if not quite at the speed we would like. We again saw the fighting spirit and commitment that has characterised recent performances to make it four games unbeaten away from home, which is an encouraging record. Until Shrewsbury equalised, we were 12th in the table, five points off the play-offs. I am not defending what might have been, but it does make the point that a win today can make a big difference, and there is still a long way to go this season.
There isn’t a magic wand to deal with unexpected challenges and setbacks. You analyse the situation, adjust plans, work hard, stay committed and gradually things move in the right direction. That is what is happening right now. That said, the challenges keep on coming. On Tuesday Djavan Anderson broke his wrist, Cameron Brannagan picked up his fifth yellow card of the season and Kyle Joseph was stretchered off. So, we keep adapting, keep believing and keep moving forward together.
Off the field we are making good progress in a number of areas. You may well know already that Stevie Kinniburgh has been appointed as head of our Academy. We had very high-calibre candidates apply for the position, but Stevie was the outstanding one. I am delighted to welcome Stevie home and excited about the prospects he brings to our development programmes. The reaction from fans has also been very heartening; it seems you shared our view that we had got our man. Rightly, Stevie will serve his notice and hand over properly at the Scottish FA before he takes up his role at the start of December, but he is already getting involved and was in Oxford last weekend to meet the Academy staff, catch up with people around the club, and to watch the under 18s in the FA Youth Cup, where we saw an excellent performance by the boys in getting through to the next round.
Stevie’s appointment follows Gemma Sims becoming Women’s General Manager. Both played for the club, have so much experience and respect within football, and are excellent at what they do, so we feel we are in very good hands for the future.
But of course, what we all want is that elusive convincing home win from the first team.
Grant
You can read the full programme online at www.matchdayfix.com/oufc