Meet the opposition | Oxford United
As Swansea City prepare to take on Oxford United at the Swansea.com Stadium, we take a closer look at the U's.
What's their story?
Established in 1893, Oxford United were originally set up as an amateur club called Headington, a village team affectionately known as ‘the boys from over the hill'.
Post-war The U’s added the name United to their name and in 1959, after ambitious planning to appeal the club to the city, their name was changed to Oxford United and they were elected to the Football League for the first time.
Their only major honor came in 1986 in the form of the League Cup when, under the leadership of Maurice Evans, when they beat Queens Park Rangers 3-0 at Wembley Stadium with former Swan Jeremy Charles among the scorers.
The 1980s also saw their highest-ever league placing. After back-to-back championship promotions from Division Two and Division Three, they spent three seasons in the top-flight, where they placed 18th twice before relegation.
The U’s have spent much of their recent history in the lower leagues and faced a spell out of the Football League after relegation in the 2005-2006 season. Four years in the Vanarama Conference followed before Chris Wilder guided Oxford back to the Football League with a 3-1 play-off final win over York in 2010.
Promotion to League One followed in 2016, and they are back in the second tier for the first time in a quarter of a century after beating Bolton in May’s play-off final
How's their form?
It’s recovered at just the right time. Having enjoyed a considerable bounce when Gary Rowett was first appointed, a sequence of nine games without a win had dragged Oxford back into the relegation battle.
But four wins and a draw in the nine games since, including last week’s win over Sunderland, mean they are four points clear of the drop and guaranteed another season of Championship football.
Who’s the gaffer?
Ex-Birmingham City, Derby County and Everton defender Gary Rowett has been at the helm as head coach since December 2024, having taken over following Des Buckingham’s departure.
As a player Rowett was a reliable performer in all the teams he played for, amassing 381 league appearances and scoring 21 goals over a 16-year career.
Rowett moved into management with his final club Burton Albion in 2012. After initially assisting Paul Peschisolido in 2009, he took over the reins and led the club to fourth place in League Two and a place in the play-offs, backing it up the following season with another top six-finish.
Moves to the Championship to manage former clubs Birmingham and Derby County followed, with his fine work at St Andrew’s going unrewarded by the club hierarchy.
He endured a difficult spell at Stoke City, before taking up the reins at Millwall and doing a fine job at The Den, having them in play-off contention over successive seasons.
He left the Lions in October 2023, and spent the final months of the 2023-24 campaign unsuccessfully trying to keep Birmingham City in the second tier following Wayne Rooney’s departure and Tony Mowbray’s need to step down due to ill health.
Who’s the captain?
Elliott Moore. The centre-back has spent six years with Oxford after joining the club from Leicester City in 2019.
Moore came through the ranks with the Foxes after joining the East Midlands club when aged just six. He played alongside the likes of Ben Chilwell and Harvey Barnes and was an unused substitute in a Premier League fixture against Tottenham in 2017.
He went on to have two successful loan spells with OH Leuven in Belgium, wearing the captain’s armband on a number of occasions, before moving to the Kassam Stadium.
He has made over 220 appearances since, and was named club captain at the outset of the 2020-21 campaign.
Who are the key men?
Former Cardiff man Mark Harris is Oxford’s top scorer with six goals, while the striker has also contributed three assists.
The Wales international came through Cardiff’s academy, and made his senior bow in 2017.
Loan spells with Newport County, Port Vale and Wrexham followed for the forward, before he became a regular part of Cardiff’s first-team squad.
After just shy of 100 league appearances, he departed to join Oxford in the summer of 2023, and netted 19 goals in all competitions as the U’s went on to secure promotion last season.
Defender Michal Helik joined Oxford in January 2025 as he left Huddersfield Town, and has played a key part in helping the U’s get to safety, with four goals and a string of assured defensive display.
Helik has always been known for being effective in both boxes, and topped Huddersfield’s scoring charts last season with nine goals before departing after two-and-half years in west Yorkshire.
Helik had previously been at Barnsley, who he joined in 2020, and where he immediately cemented himself into the Tykes backline during a campaign where the Yorkshire club would eventually lose out to the Swans in the play-offs
He previously played for Polish sides Ruch Chorzow and Cracovia before making the move to English football.
Helik became a Poland International when he made his debut in a World Cup qualifier against Hungary in March 2021. He has seven caps to his name.
Midfielder Cameron Brannagan is a product of the Liverpool academy and made nine senior appearance for the Reds, including three Premier League outings between 2014 and 2018.
The England youth international also had a loan spell with Fleetwood Town before joining Oxford in 2018.
He has made over 324 appearances since and scored 57 goals. Three of those goals have come this season, with the most recent of those a blockbuster 35-yard strike to secure a point against Cardiff City.
Brannagan was also on the scoresheet when Oxford knocked the Swans out of the Carabao Cup on penalties in 2022.