The last two or three seasons have been memorable ones for Oxford United and with the team off to another flying start we would like to ask Oxford fans to help us help them.
With average crowds rising and the team playing bright attractive football under Pep Clotet, more and more fans are buying tickets on the day of the match. With away attendances at Grenoble Road on the rise as well, we expect to see more games where the away end is sold out in advance, and this is having a knock on effect.
To minimise the chances of away fans getting into the home areas the club is, quite reasonably, asking for proof that fans are indeed Oxford United supporters. The simplest way to do that is to be on our database. Most existing fans are on it already; if you bought a season ticket or a match ticket online or have given your name and address when purchasing at the ticket office, either in person or on the phone, in recent years, including any of our three trips to Wembley, then we will have your details.
However, we are seeing an increasing number of fans returning; people who have not been to see the U’s for a while and those who regularly turn up in the hour before kick-off may not be on the database, as we do not take details from fans once it starts to get busier. Checking if people are on our database in the hour before kick-off, especially if they have changed address, leads to queues and on Saturday this led to some abuse of the ticket office staff and therefore an increased security presence outside the window on the match day.
If you do not think you are on our database then either book in advance before the next match, either 24/7 online or during normal ticket office hours (9.30am – 5.30pm) in person or on the phone: 01865 337533. In addition, you can purchase home tickets from the new club shop in the centre of Oxford. As part of the Market Barbers in the Covered Market, the shop is currently open Monday to Friday from 10am to 5pm.
Tickets for home matches are generally on sale a month in advance and are currently available for the games against Shrewsbury Town on Saturday 26th August, Gillingham on Saturday 9th September and Bradford City on Tuesday 12th September. To book online click HERE
Ian Mixter, Head of Crowd Safety, told us:
“Shouting at the ticket office staff is unacceptable and some of the abuse was horrific, which is simply not fair on people who do such a fantastic job for this football club. The vast majority of fans are great and very understanding but once people start arguing and security are called in, it slows everything down. Apologies to the other fans that were left waiting as a consequence. We will not tolerate fans hurling abuse at members of staff, as we saw on Saturday, but we are constantly trying to get the message across that fans can help themselves by making sure they are on the database.”