Match: v Oxford United - Blue Square Premier

Date: Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

Result: Oxford 3 Cambridge United 1

The Journey

Departure Time: 3pm

Arrival at Ground: The early departure was to avoid the traffic problems on the M25 or in Oxford. And it worked... easily! In fact, the timing of the journey was such that we were before the start of rush hour on the London Orbital Motorway and we were even too early to be held up by the change of shift at the Mini Factory - it makes cars, rather than being a very small place of manufacturing - in Oxford.

With such a straightforward journey, there was only time for one highlight; a pair of red kites - the avian variety, not the kind that is attached to a long piece of string - flying alongside the M40.

We parked in one of the capacious car parks at the ground at about 5.15pm. The stadium is on the edge of Oxford's most notorious housing estate, which is one of the least affluent areas of the city. Even so, it was surprising to find some kids playing football with an old shoe on rough ground near the car park, like guttersnipes in a Dickensian novel. It was equally surprising, given the estate's notoriety, to find the giant metal sculpture of an ox still sitting safely on its plinth outside the ground.

Our early arrival left plenty of time to catch up with our chums Chris and Ambrose from the Oxford United Press Office; people who always make a visit to the Kassam Stadium a real delight - whatever the result.

At The Ground

The Ground: Rather like Field Mill, which we visited on the Saturday prior to this match, the Kassam Stadium is a 'proper' football ground, albeit another one with only three sides. Behind one of the goals, separating the pitch from a large car park shared with a cinema complex, there is just a fence that would not have looked out of place corralling a suburban garden. This being a televised match, one of the many cameras was positioned on a gantry behind the fence. A block and tackle contraption had been fixed to this gantry, presumably to winch the camera into position. However, with its arm at a 90 degree angle atop a longer post, it looked more like a set of gallows; an uncomfortable impression reinforced by the pressure the Oxford manager was under from the home fans before the match.

The garden fence style continued in the corners of the ground in the wide-open spaces between the large stands that loomed over the remaining three sides. Because Oxford don't own the ground and don't receive income from ground advertising, there were few boards around the pitch. Instead, a liveried transit van was strategically positioned in one of these vast corners between stands, advertising the local paper.

To the right of the fenced end of the ground, the Main Stand is a giant, two-tiered affair with an educational resource room at the top that serves as a pressroom on match days. These facilities are accessed via lifts at the back of a plush, hotel style reception area that is replete with marble floor and abstract paintings.

The stands along the remaining end and side of the ground are both single-tiered seas of mid-blue seats. Unusually, neither have the club initials or nickname picked out in contrasting colours. About a third of the stand that runs along the side of the pitch is given over to away fans. Floodlights sit on the roof of this stand, held in place by contraptions that look like a pair of sideways aitches, one atop the other. Interestingly, or not perhaps, this was the first match of the season that kicked off after the sun had set.

United Fans: Excellent noise before the match and for the first few minutes. However, they were subdued by Oxford's early goal and didn't really find their voices again until just before half time.

View from Away End: No pillars in the way and plenty of seats from which to choose, so the view was good. Given the performance, particularly in the first half, this was not necessarily a good thing.

Home Fans: Got behind their team once they took the lead, but were nervous once United equalised and on the verge of unleashing a torrent of frustration against their team and manager until Oxford regained the lead.

Police/Stewards: Stewards seemed helpful and friendly enough. Before this match, Oxford's record on matches televised by Setanta was not great - they hadn't won in eleven attempts - and Oxford fans knew at whose feet the blame should be placed. Was this why Rebecca Lowe, Setanta's best-known face, had her own security guard following her around like a spaniel?

Programme: Another glossy publication with 68 pages for £3. Plenty of readable articles and with enough photos to make the design easy on the eye, this is a publication worthy of a higher league.

Food/Drink: As all the money from the catering goes to the owner of the ground, the press corps passed on the cornucopia of delights on offer. Our semi-official taster was undaunted though, but regretted his £2.90 hot dog as it 'tasted like petrol'.

Afterwards

The Journey Home: If the journey to the match had been straightforward, the trip home was less so with the motorways coning off all but one lane at frustratingly regular intervals.

Mileage: 191.4 miles

Total Distance for Season: 1,487.5 miles

Mark Johnson, with additional reporting by David Gray, Ryan Johnson and Gordon McMillan

[Match report] [Fixture list] [League table]

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