Oxford United

Marc Webber
BBC Final Score

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Forty years ago, Oxford United achieved the unthinkable and won the Milk Cup (what we now know as the Carabao Cup).

Jim Smith, the manager who got them to the top flight, was sitting in the opposition dugout at Wembley that day and could only watch in disbelief as his chief scout Maurice Evans instigated a masterclass in 'underdoggery' to beat his QPR favourites and lift the trophy.

In the same season, Evans kept the U's in the First Division against all odds.

Why do I raise this after watching Oxford beat Watford on Saturday?

Because I genuinely felt that Spirit of '86 revitalised in the team and the fans during that game at the Kassam Stadium.

Yellow flags were waving like a semaphore convention and the cheering was as loud as if it were coming from a six-sided stadium, not three.

Meanwhile, on the pitch, Matt Bloomfield's team chased every ball and never gave up, even when Watford looked like they could pinch a goal later in the second half.

You know you have done a good job when the opposing fans boo their players off the pitch at the end.

Oxford United should have got more points out of recent games, yet they are still on for a great escape.

If Maurice Evans' 1986 team did not believe, they would have been out of the cup and the league, but they never stopped believing and that Spirit of '86 needs to be repeated in 2026 as United fight through these last few games.

It is the best asset the club has right now.

Head coach Matt Bloomfield praised forward Myles Peart-Harris after Oxford United's 2-0 win at home to Watford.

"It's nice for Myles to get his goal," Bloomfield told BBC Radio Oxford. "He's been very good for us and we want more goals from him, as he wants more goals from himself.

"I'm so incredibly pleased [for] Mark Harris – he's everything a professional footballer should be.

"He lives his life properly, is humble and works hard every single day. He's selfless for the team and plays up front and out wide. He absolutely deserves it.

"When you look at the results, it was even more imperative that we won. As I said inside the dressing room, we can't worry about what happens elsewhere.

"We can't affect that; if we get too sidetracked and spend too much energy looking elsewhere, we'll take the focus off what we need to do.

"We're in this position, we've got four games to go and we have to focus on ourselves. There are going to be results that you don't expect or see coming.

"We have to be positive, keep moving forward and keep going after those performances, because it was a joy to watch us - especially in the second half - and we want four more of them."

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The EFL has announced the fixtures for the 2026-27 season will be published at midday on Thursday, 25 June.

The first-round draws for the Carabao Cup and the Vertu Trophy will be made on the same day.

The new season will kick off on the weekend of August 7-9 with the first round of the Carabao Cup, and the opening fixtures in the Championship, League One and League Two will follow a week later on 14-16 August.

The first round of the Vertu Trophy will be played in the week commencing 21 September.

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Southampton's Tonda Eckert has been named the Championship's manager of the month for March.

The Saints went unbeaten in the league last month, winning three and drawing one of their four games including a victory at the leaders Coventry.

The Sky Blues' Frank Lampard, Matt Bloomfield of Oxford United and West Brom interim boss James Morrison were also nominated.

Eckert also won the award in February when Southampton were again unbeaten and have continued their good form into April, moving into the play-off places as well as reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

They meet Derby at home on Saturday (15:00 BST).

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Oxford United boss Matt Bloomfield has urged his side to keep emotionally level as they aim to escape the drop to League One.

The U's came close to exiting the Championship's bottom three at Fratton Park on Monday but conceded a late goal to draw with relegation rivals Portsmouth.

"It's really important that we are level - we can't get too high or too low," Bloomfield told BBC Radio Oxford.

"We have to make sure that in the good moments we are prepared in not getting too carried away.

"We've gone behind in a couple of games recently and I never like going behind but I like the way the boys have bounced back. They've kept that level of intensity about them so we have to make sure we keep that."

Oxford face Watford on Saturday (15:00 BST) and those at the Kassam will be keen to pick up a result against a Hornets side that are now nine points adrift of the play-off places.

However, Bloomfield is quick to dispel any thoughts that their visitors won't be motivated to perform to their best.

"Everything is analysed, every player is analysed, every club, every game, every manager - everything is recorded," Bloomfield added.

"Everyone has something to play for and we are expecting some really tough opposition on Saturday."

Oxford United will seek an exit from the bottom three as they welcome Watford on Saturday (15:00 BST).

The U's are on a four-match winless streak but are only one point below 21st-placed Portsmouth and could leapfrog both Leicester City and Pompey to reach safety should they pick up a better result.

They face a Hornets side on a three-match winless run of their own, with a nine point-gap to the play-offs.

• Oxford have won just three of their last 26 league games against Watford (D11 L12), though one of those was in this exact fixture last season (1-0).

• Watford lost this exact fixture 1-0 last season, having been unbeaten in their previous 12 league visits to Oxford between 1972 and 1999 (W4 D8).

• Oxford have the lowest average possession (39.7%), have completed the fewest passes (8,870), had the fewest sequences of 10 or more passes in open play (128), average the fewest passes per sequence (2.3) and have the shortest sequence time (5.6 seconds) in the Championship this season.

• Since Ed Still's first game in charge of Watford on Valentine's Day, only Middlesbrough (211) and Portsmouth (165) have had more shots in the Championship than the Hornets (151), though 44% of them have come from outside the box (67), the third-highest ratio of any side in that time.

• Since the start of February, only Hayden Hackney (28) has created more chances in the Championship than Watford's Giorgi Chakvetadze (25). He created nine open play chances last time out against Charlton, only the third player on record (2013-14 onwards) to do so in a Championship game: the others are Pablo Hernández for Leeds vs Bolton in February 2019 (10) and Finn Azaz for Plymouth vs Watford in January 2024 (9).

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Oxford United's Matt Bloomfield, Tonda Eckert of Southampton, West Brom interim boss James Morrison and Coventry's Frank Lampard have all been nominated for the March Championship manager of the month award.

Bloomfield led Oxford to seven points from their four games last month to give them hope of avoiding relegation from the Championship, while Eckert's Southampton went unbeaten in March - and won at leaders Coventry.

Morrison was handed the task of lifting West Brom clear of the bottom three and took eight points from an unbeaten four-game run.

Coventry have continued their charge towards the Premier League, with Lampard overseeing three wins and just that one blemish in the defeat by Southampton.

Southampton goalkeeper Daniel Peretz and West Brom defender George Campbell are nominated for the player of the month award along with Millwall striker Josh Coburn and Derby defender Matt Clarke.

The winners of both awards will be announced on Friday morning.

Oxford United boss Matt Bloomfield admitted that he was "terribly disappointed" to not pick up all three points in their 2-2 draw with Portsmouth on Monday.

The U's came from behind to take the lead against Pompey before conceding a late goal with the points shared at Fratton Park.

The result means that Oxford jump above Leicester but remain in the bottom three with the Foxes playing away at Sheffield Wednesday in a 15:00 BST kick-off on Monday

"We worked so incredibly hard to get our noses in front in the game against a tough opposition in such an incredible atmosphere," Bloomfield told BBC Radio Oxford.

"We feel terribly disappointed that we are not walking away with three points, we need to make sure we improve on conceding late goals like this.

"Nothing was decided today [in the relegation picture], it's my job now as the leader of the group to pick everybody up and make sure we get ready for the game at the weekend.

"We still have five games to go and we'll keep hunting."

Oxford are next in action on Saturday when they host Watford at the Kassam Stadium.

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Matt Bloomfield was proud of his Oxford United side after they held promotion-chasing Hull City at the Kassam Stadium, even though they remain in the Championship relegation zone.

Oxford equalised through Cameron Brannagan's penalty after falling behind to an early Hull goal and created enough chances to win.

They now face relegation rivals Portsmouth in a huge relegation clash at Fratton Park on Monday and Bloomfield feels his side cannot be questioned.

"We assess it by saying that we've created multiple opportunities to win the football match," he told BBC Radio Oxford.

"It hasn't gone our way today, but in terms of performance level and endeavour, the way the boys kept creating, kept pressing, kept at it, we can't question them.

"It was obviously very disappointing to go one goal down so early and another team could have possibly wobbled, but our lads are made of sterner stuff, and they kept going.

"Cam stuck the penalty away and we created multiple opportunities. I'm just really disappointed for the lads and for the crowd today because everyone was excellent.

"We played against a very good team, who are five points off the automatic promotion places, and are going to end the season, probably in the play-offs at the very least.

"Yet we've gone toe to toe with them and created enough chances to win the game."

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Championship clubs spent just over £69.5m on agents fees over the past 12 months according to figures released by the Football Association,, external an increase of £6m on the previous year.

The figures cover the period from February 2025 with Ipswich Town the top spenders, paying £11.7m having spent the first three months of the accounting period in the Premier League.

Southampton (£8.3m) and Leicester (£5.8m), who were relegated alongside Ipswich are the second and third-highest payers on the list.

Troubled Sheffield Wednesday were the most frugal when dealing with agents, spending £534,559.

Wrexham come in sixth on the list with an outlay of £3.6m while current Championship leaders Coventry spent just short of £1.5m.

Championship agents' fee spending, external

• Ipswich - £11,738,920

• Southampton - £8,381,358

• Leicester City - £5,866,587

• Sheffield United - £5,005,498

• Norwich - £4,020,206

• Wrexham - £3,660,584

• Swansea - £3,088,645

• Middlesbrough - £2,900,314

• Bristol City - £2,774,990

• Hull City - £2,450,431

• Stoke City - £2,088,886

• Birmingham City - £1,996,502

• Millwall - £1,982,348

• Preston North End - £1,831,233

• QPR - £1,829,036

• Watford - £1,612,833

• Coventry - £1,497,990

• Derby - £1,409,507

• West Brom - £1,346,030

• Oxford - £1,235,536

• Charlton - £904,698

• Portsmouth - £831,818

• Blackburn - £676,980

• Sheffield Wednesday - £534,559

Image source, Opta

Oxford United welcome Hull City for a crucial encounter with ramifications at both ends of the table on Friday (kick-off 15:00 BST).

The U's had been on a four-game unbeaten run (W3 D1) before their defeat to Southampton last time out and are 23rd but just one point adrift of safety.

The play-off chasing Tigers beat bottom side Sheffield Wednesday before the international break but have lost three of their past five games.

Hull are fifth, three points clear of seventh-placed Wrexham and five points behind the automatic promotion places.

• Oxford have won just one of their previous six league games against Hull (D1 L4), though it did come in this exact fixture last season (1-0).

• Following their 3-2 win in August, Hull are looking to complete their third league double over Oxford United after 1965-66 and 1975-76.

• Oxford are unbeaten in their past three home league games (W2 D1), having failed to win (D2 L3) or score in any of their previous five at the Kassam Stadium.

• No side has won more away games in the Championship than Hull City this season (10), though the Tigers have lost two of their past three on the road.

• Oliver McBurnie has been involved in more goals than any other Championship player this season (20 – 13 goals, 7 assists). He's the first Hull player to reach 20 goal involvements in a Championship campaign since Jarrod Bowen in 2019-20 (23).

Image source, Getty Images

Blackburn Rovers defender Tom Atcheson made his debut for Northern Ireland on Tuesday after Oxford United forward Jamie Donley opened the scoring during their 1-1 draw with Wales.

The 19-year-old came on in the 80th minute to earn his maiden appearance for the international side after receiving his first senior call-up from boss Michael O'Neill, who manages both Northern Ireland and Rovers.

Atcheson was the only Rovers player to have been named in the squad amid concerns regarding O'Neill's dual role.

Oxford are understood to have raised a complaint of conflict of interest after four of their players were called up for the international side, including goalscorer Donley.