Another month has come to a close at Oxford United, with November finishing on a high thanks to a superb victory over Ipswich Town.
It was far from a straightforward few weeks for Gary Rowett’s side. November brought six challenging Sky Bet Championship fixtures, and the opening stages of the month proved particularly tough. After a dramatic home draw with Millwall, the U’s suffered back-to-back defeats against Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion.
The momentum shifted in the second half of the month, however. Oxford secured a home draw against Middlesbrough, grabbed a last-gasp equaliser away at Norwich City, and capped things off with a brilliant win against Ipswich Town last Friday.
Oxford United Women also endured a hectic November with a mixed bag of results. After defeats to Watford and Plymouth, the team bounced back with victories over Luton Town and Lewes. Amid the busy schedule came a significant development off the pitch, as Liam Gilbert returned to the Club to take charge - and promptly won his first two games back in the dugout.
The Academy enjoyed an outstanding month as well. The Under-21s recorded impressive 3–0 wins over Chesterfield and Billericay, while the Under-18s drew away at Wrexham, edged out Colchester, and put on a stunning display in a 9–0 demolition of Barnet. There was also a marquee signing, with former Tottenham Hotspur and Brentford youngster Kaya Halil joining the academy.
On the international stage, November brought its share of milestones. Filip Krastev found the net in a Bulgaria victory, Mark Harris helped Wales secure their place in the World Cup play-offs, and Ciaron Brown’s Northern Ireland side confirmed their playoff spot too.
We were also delighted to share the news that Will Vaulks had won the FIFPRO Player Voice Award, as recognition for the outstanding work Will does to promote mental health awareness and suicide prevention.
Here’s the month of November 2025—told through the moments and voices that defined it...
"It was important to help the team when I came on. I'm very pleased with the goal."
Przemyslaw Placheta
"It's a really honest group. It's a really hard-working group."
Gary Rowett
"It's been a solid start for us as a 21s group that the Club have set up this year. It's a strong group and we just have to keep that going."
Harrison Mole
"I've been pleased to see a team that I think is improving, and hopefully we will get rewarded by more points, more wins."
Gary Rowett
"Really excited to be back, it's almost like a homecoming. The Club is obviously in a very different place now and the way the Women's team has been incorporated more closely to the structure of the Men's team is really exciting."
Liam Gilbert
"I want to say thank you to all the fans that have supported it. Watch this space, we are going to be doing plenty more work."
Will Vaulks
"It's been frustrating at times. I go out at training every day and try my best, and that's all I can do."
Luke Harris
"I'm very happy. It's my first goal for Oxford. I'm very happy that I could score with the final touch and bring the point home. Every point in this league is very important because, in my experience, all teams are very even and each team can win any game."
Filip Krastev
"I'm really glad to be here. It's been a good few weeks. The boys have been very good, they've welcomed me and it's been very nice. I'm a creative player and will give my all."
Kaya Halil
"It's good because if you play badly one game, you will usually have a game again very quickly (in this league) to put things right. In the Netherlands there wouldn't be so many games, I like playing games so it's good."
Brian De Keersmaecker
"In those moments, you either show a bit of character or you accept that you are going to try and hang on. We had that choice on the bench and that choice on the pitch, and in both those instances we felt we had a good opportunity to turn the tide. The subs came on and made a huge impact, not just with the goal but Tyler and Ole getting on the ball to give us composure up the pitch, in turn led to the space opening up for Shemmy to get that goalscoring chance."
Gary Rowett
"Happy to be back amongst the goals, it's been a while. It's nice to get us off to a good start. Keeper made a good save with the first one but the ball fell back at my feet and I just kept a cool head to knock it in."
Mark Harris
"It was quite end-to-end, but we created a lot of chances and we are really pleased to get the win. Emma works really hard and she deserved her goal."
Shelly Provan