Today marks the start of the EFL's annual Week of Action where all 72 member clubs unite to highlight the impact they have on their communities as a collective. Each day this week we will bring you news on one of the amazing things that Oxford United in the Community are doing, starting this week with The Manor Club:
Today we focus on the Manor Club, which goes from strength to strength having been launched in 2017.
Last Wednesday at 11.30am there is an excitement in the air at Cowley Workers Social Club. Oxford United volunteers, Oxford United in the Community staff, and regular attendees are gathering outside along with many new faces attending the Manor Club for the first time.
There will be over 100 in attendance - a record number - to hear Liam Manning talk, presenting United’s senior fanbase with another opportunity to get to know key club figures past and present in an environment outside the spotlight where they are happy to take additional questions from the floor.
This season’s guests have already included Cameron Brannagan and Robbie Hall, and previous guests include former greats such as Ron Atkinson, George Lawrence, Peter Foley and James Constable to name a few.
Originally launched in 2017 in partnership with Oxford Brookes University, The Manor Club was created to provide an outlet for more senior U’s fans in the eastern arch of the city to meet and socialise. It is open to anybody aged 50 or over and runs on the first Wednesday of the month throughout the season.
There have been four familiar faces as ever presents giving their time to ensure the success of the Manor Club. As volunteers, Hayley Nash and Marisa Corbett worked alongside Oxford United in the Community Patron Peter Rhoades-Brown and Roger Hiscock, the clubs former Chief Steward who has worked at the club for over 40 years, and have both hosted the Manor Club since it was formed.
“When it started out, we were in a small room here in the Cowley Social Workers Club, but as you can see today we fill the large function room nearly every month.
“Aside from the obvious gap due to Covid, we’ve run the Manor Club monthly 8 times per season for nearly 7 years now.
“Even during the Covid pandemic, Oxford United in the Community were able to stream the event, and hosted a matchday watch along for the more senior supporters where we watched the match virtually together and delivered a pie to their houses, to get that full matchday experience – well as much as you could!
“That was obviously a tough time for many of our attendees but it was great that we found a way to keep everyone together and get through it. But there is no substitute for meeting in person, and I don’t think it is any coincidence that since those times, our numbers have been steadily increasing.
“I volunteer for the Manor Club because I see the importance of the social aspect of a group like this. We get a lot of interest when we have guests from the past – often of an era that we remember but maybe would be of a lesser interest to the younger generations, but of course as you see today we sometimes have current players and staff as well.
“I’ve got to know a lot of the regulars, and as a Blackbird Leys resident myself, a stones throw from the stadium, when I am in Cowley Centre it always surprises me when people come to me and say ‘Hi Rog’ and we often have a chat about Oxford United and life in general, which shows that the impact of this is connecting people away from matches and even away from the Manor Club.
As Liam Manning wraps up his chat with Rosie, by answering several questions directly from the floor and drawing which guest will receive a free ticket for next month, guests start to leave but the work isn’t done for the volunteers.
“We are always talking about how we can grow awareness of the Manor Club, so we can reach out to more people, and that never changes. We would love to be able to work with a local company to fund the lunches, and in turn raise even more money for Oxford United in the Community.
“Rosie also works extremely hard to ensure we have an interesting and varied list of guests, and we are truly thankful to everybody who has spoken at the Manor Club over the years.
“We will continue to do what we do, and hope to see more new faces through the door in future months, where rest assured you will be in for a warm welcome and an interesting afternoon learning much more about the people past and present who make the club tick.
Tickets for Oxford United in the Community’s next Manor Club are available to purchase from the club’s ticket office, online or by calling 01865 337533. Tickets are priced £7.
Doors open at 11.30am and admission includes a light buffet lunch, tea and coffee.
Support our work:
If you would like to support the work we are doing in the Community, you can make a one off donation, or set up a monthly donation of an amount of your choosing easily through our donation platform Enthuse. Click HERE to make a donation.
Remember, every donation helps us to continue with our programmes and supports our effort to expand our impact across the County as part of our Oxfordshire – A Community United strategy.
- 100 fans giving just £2 a month would allow us to fund our disability programme for a whole year*.
- 500 fans doing the same would allow us to expand the programme in 5 partner towns across the County*.
- 1,000 fans would allow us to fund more than 600 places on our holiday camp and skill centre programmes, giving 5-13 year olds and their families access to physical and group activities that may otherwise be inaccessible to them*.
Thank you for your support.
*Indicative examples only