The 2016–17 season was Oxford United's first season back in League One after gaining promotion the previous season, and their 123rd year in existence. As well as competing in League One, the club also participated in the FA Cup, League Cup and League Trophy.
Oxford lost three key players in the close season, Kemar Roofe departing for Leeds for a club record of £3m, Callum O'Dowda (less expectedly) to Bristol City for around £1m, and striker Danny Hylton who declined a contract renewal offer and joined Luton Town in League Two. United narrowly failed to sign Matty Taylor to replace the goal-scoring potential of these three players, but Chris Maguire, after protracted negotiations, signed a one-year contract extension and strikers Wes Thomas and Kane Hemmings were brought in to boost the forward line, the latter for a £250,000 fee. Manager Michael Appleton's first summer signing was goalkeeper Simon Eastwood. Eastwood had previously been on Oxford's books as cover for Ryan Clarke in 2010–11 but had failed to make an appearance. Another returning player was Rob Hall, a former loanee signed from Bolton Wanderers despite carrying a long-term injury. United spent what was believed to be a club record fee to secure the services of winger Marvin Johnson from Motherwell, and the defence was bolstered by the arrival of Christian Ribeiro, Aaron Martin and Curtis Nelson. Young midfielder John Lundstram was appointed captain to replace defender Jake Wright (who joined former Oxford manager Chris Wilder at eventual champions Sheffield United) and his deputy Johnny Mullins (who was not offered a new contract and joined teammate Hylton at Luton Town). Notable loanees from Premier League sides included Dan Crowley from Arsenal, Toni Martínez from West Ham and Conor McAleny from Everton.
After a shaky start which saw them in the relegation places after three games, League One newcomers United recovered strongly to finish 8th in the table, four points off the last playoff position, the highest of the promoted teams and in their highest placing at any point of the season. They again completed the double over local rivals Swindon Town, who were relegated to League Two. Eastwood, in stark contrast to his previous stint at the club, played every minute of United's 62 games in all competitions (the most competitive games played by any league team for the second season in succession) and was voted the club's Player of the Season by both fans and teammates at the end of the season. Maguire was the team's highest scorer with 17 goals in all competitions, with Hemmings chipping in with 15 and loanee McAleny scoring 10 in 18 League appearances in the second half of the season, including two hat-tricks. In total, Oxford scored 100 goals in all competitions.
For the second year running, Oxford reached the final of the League Trophy at Wembley Stadium but finished runners-up in the competition, this time beaten 2–1 by Coventry City. This was the club's fourth visit to the national stadium. They reached the fifth round of the FA Cup, beating Rotherham United and Newcastle United of the Championship before being eliminated by Middlesbrough of the Premier League. In the first round of the League Cup they also defeated Championship opposition in the shape of Birmingham City, but were knocked out in the second round by Brighton & Hove Albion.
The season covers the period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017.
Transfers
Transfers in Date from Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref. 1 July 2016 GK Simon Eastwood Blackburn Rovers Free transfer 1 July 2016 CB Aaron Martin Coventry City Free transfer 1 July 2016 RB Christian Ribeiro Exeter City Free transfer 1 July 2016 CF Wes Thomas Birmingham City Free transfer 4 July 2016 CB Curtis Nelson Plymouth Argyle Undisclosed 12 July 2016 CM Joe Rothwell Manchester United Undisclosed 19 July 2016 CF Robert Hall Bolton Wanderers Free transfer 27 July 2016 CF Kane Hemmings Dundee £250,000 25 August 2016 CM Ryan Ledson Everton Undisclosed 31 August 2016 MF Marvin Johnson Motherwell Undisclosed 5 January 2017 CM James Cowan Dundee Undisclosed
Transfers out Date from Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref. 1 July 2016 CF Jordan Bowery Leyton Orient Released 1 July 2016 LM AJ George Free agent Released 1 July 2016 LB Freddie Grant Oxford City Released 1 July 2016 CF Patrick Hoban Mansfield Town Released 1 July 2016 CF Danny Hylton Luton Town Free transfer 1 July 2016 CB Johnny Mullins Luton Town Released Following Mullins' release, he signed for Luton Town. 7 July 2016 LW Kemar Roofe Leeds United £3,000,000 9 July 2016 CB Jake Wright Sheffield United Mutual consent 14 July 2016 LW Callum O'Dowda Bristol City £1,000,000 + add ons 19 July 2016 GK Sam Slocombe Blackpool Mutual consent 4 August 2016 GK Max Crocombe Carlisle United Mutual consent 5 January 2017 CF George Jeacock Free agent Mutual consent 30 January 2017 CF Ryan Taylor Plymouth Argyle Mutual consent 31 January 2017 MF Alex MacDonald Mansfield Town Mutual consent
Loans in Date from Position Nationality Name From Date until Ref. 1 July 2016 AM Daniel Crowley Arsenal 2 December 2016 28 July 2016 CF Tyler Roberts West Bromwich Albion 3 January 2017 19 August 2016 RB Phil Edwards Burton Albion End of season 31 August 2016 CB Charlie Raglan Chesterfield End of season 23 January 2017 CF Toni Martínez West Ham United End of season 31 January 2017 CF Conor McAleny Everton End of season
Loans out Date from Position Nationality Name To Date until Ref. 5 August 2016 CB Robbie Cundy Oxford City 2 September 2016 5 August 2016 GK Jack Stevens Oxford City 2 September 2016 7 September 2016 CM John Ashby Oxford City 31 December 2016 7 September 2016 RM Jonny Giles Oxford City 7 December 2016 7 September 2016 CF James Roberts Oxford City 31 December 2016 9 September 2016 CF George Jeacock Banbury United 7 October 2016 8 December 2016 CB Miles Welch-Hayes Bath City 5 January 2017 2 January 2017 RM Jonny Giles Aldershot Town End of season 9 January 2017 CB Robbie Cundy Southport 6 February 2017 24 February 2017 CF James Roberts Stalybridge Celtic End of season 4 March 2017 GK Benjamin Büchel Barnet 11 March 2017
Competitions
Pre-season friendlies
League One
League table
Results summary
Results by round
Matches
FA Cup
EFL Cup
EFL Trophy
Oxfordshire Senior Cup
Squad statistics
Appearances and goals
Top scorers
PlacePositionNationNumberNameLeague OneFA CupLeague CupFL TrophyTotal1FW 10 Chris Maguire 13 1 0 3 172FW 15 Kane Hemmings 6 5 0 4 153FW 11 Conor McAleny 10 0 0 0 104FW 19 Robert Hall 6 0 0 0 6MF 28 Marvin Johnson 3 0 0 3 66MF 8 Liam Sercombe 3 0 1 1 57DF 5 Curtis Nelson 3 1 0 0 4FW 9 Wes Thomas 3 0 1 0 4DF 16 Phil Edwards 2 1 0 1 4FW 20 Ryan Taylor 1 2 0 1 4Own goal 3 0 0 1 412MF 7 Dan Crowley 2 0 1 0 3FW 7 Toni Martínez 1 2 0 0 3MF 11 Alex MacDonald 1 1 0 1 3MF 14 Josh Ruffels 2 1 0 0 3DF 33 Chey Dunkley 3 0 0 0 317MF 18 Joe Rothwell 1 1 0 0 2FW 21 Tyler Roberts 0 1 0 1 219MF 4 John Lundstram 1 0 0 0 1MF 23 Ryan Ledson 1 0 0 0 1TOTALS6216316100
Disciplinary record
NumberNationPositionNameLeague TwoFA CupLeague CupFL TrophyTotal1 GK Simon Eastwood 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 03 DF Joe Skarz 4 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 7 04 MF John Lundstram 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6 05 DF Curtis Nelson 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 06 DF Aaron Martin 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 07 MF Dan Crowley 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 07 FW Toni Martínez 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 08 MF Liam Sercombe 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 09 FW Wes Thomas 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 010 FW Chris Maguire 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 011 MF Alex MacDonald 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 111 FW Conor McAleny 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 014 MF Josh Ruffels 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 015 FW Kane Hemmings 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 016 DF Phil Edwards 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 6 018 MF Joe Rothwell 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 019 MF Robert Hall 6 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 7 020 FW Ryan Taylor 4 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 6 021 FW Tyler Roberts 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 022 DF Sam Long 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 123 MF Ryan Ledson 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 025 DF Charlie Raglan 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 028 MF Marvin Johnson 5 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 8 033 DF Chey Dunkley 7 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 9 035 DF Canice Carroll 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0TOTALS76 1 7 0 4 0 12 1 99 2
References