The 2020–21 season was Oxford United F.C.'s 127th year in existence and their fifth consecutive season in League One, the third tier of English football. As well as competing in League One, the club also participated in the FA Cup, EFL Cup and EFL Trophy. The season covers the period from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.
Oxford finished 6th in League One but were defeated 6–3 on aggregate over two legs in the first round of the play-offs by Blackpool, who had finished 3rd and were ultimately promoted to the Championship. They were eliminated in the early rounds of the FA Cup and EFL Cup, but reached the semi-final of the EFL Trophy before being beaten by Tranmere Rovers.
Transfers Transfers in Date Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref. 1 July 2020 CB Benjamin Watt Tottenham Hotspur Free transfer 23 July 2020 LW Joel Cooper Linfield Undisclosed 31 July 2020 CF Matty Taylor Bristol City Free transfer 6 August 2020 CM Sean Clare Heart of Midlothian Undisclosed 18 August 2020 CF Dylan Asonganyi Milton Keynes Dons Free transfer 21 August 2020 CF Derick Osei Stade Brestois Free transfer 11 September 2020 CF Sam Winnall Sheffield Wednesday Free transfer 9 November 2020 LB Jordan Obita Reading Free transfer 29 January 2021 CB Luke McNally St Patrick's Athletic Undisclosed
Loans in Date from Position Nationality Name From Date until Ref. 15 August 2020 CM Marcus McGuane Nottingham Forest End of season 21 August 2020 CM Liam Kelly Feyenoord End of season 16 October 2020 LW Olamide Shodipo Queens Park Rangers End of season 1 February 2021 LW Brandon Barker Rangers End of season 1 February 2021 CB Joe Grayson Blackburn Rovers End of season 1 February 2021 CF Elliot Lee Luton Town End of season
Loans out Date from Position Nationality Name To Date until Ref. 2 October 2020 AM Malachi Napa Woking 2 November 2020 2 October 2020 FW Slavi Spasov Woking 8 February 2021 26 October 2020 RW Kyran Lofthouse Woking End of season 11 December 2020 CM Leon Chambers-Parillon Havant & Waterlooville January 2021 18 December 2020 LM Joel Cooper Linfield End of season 12 January 2021 CM Sean Clare Burton Albion End of season 22 January 2021 AM Malachi Napa Woking 22 February 2021 1 February 2021 CF Derick Osei Walsall End of season 5 February 2021 DF Nico Jones Havant & Waterlooville March 2021
Transfers out Date Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref. 1 July 2020 CB Sam Allardyce Unattached Released 1 July 2020 FW Jordan Edwards Unattached Released 1 July 2020 GK Max Evans Yeovil Town Released 1 July 2020 MF Aaron McCreadie Gosport Borough Released 1 July 2020 CB Viktor Milton Unattached Released 1 July 2020 RB Kashif Siddiqi Unattached Released 21 July 2020 CF Jamie Mackie Retired 12 August 2020 DM George Thorne Unattached Released 1 September 2020 CB Robert Dickie Queens Park Rangers Undisclosed 3 September 2020 GK Max Harris Cheltenham Town Free transfer 6 October 2020 LB Kevin Berkoe Salford City Free transfer 29 January 2021 LB Jordan Obita Wycombe Wanderers Undisclosed 25 March 2021 MF Malachi Napa Woking Free transfer Notes
Pre-season
Competitions EFL League One
League table
Results summary
Results by matchday
Matches
The 2020–21 season fixtures were released on 21 August.
Play-offs
FA Cup
The draw for the first round was made on Monday 26, October.
EFL Cup
The first round draw was made on 18 August, live on Sky Sports, by Paul Merson. The draw for both the second and third round were confirmed on September 6, live on Sky Sports by Phil Babb.
EFL Trophy
The regional group stage draw was confirmed on 18 August. The second round draw was made by Matt Murray on 20 November, at St Andrew's. The third round was made on 10 December 2020 by Jon Parkin. The draw for the semi-final was announced on 5 February.
Appearances and goals
Top scorers
PlacePositionNationNumberNameLeague OneFA CupLeague CupFL TrophyTotal1FW 9 Matty Taylor 18 0 0 0 182FW 25 Olamide Shodipo 10 0 0 2 123=MF 3 Josh Ruffles 6 1 0 0 7MF 10 James Henry 7 0 0 0 75=DF 12 Sam Long 6 0 0 0 6FW 11 Sam Winnall 4 0 0 2 6FW 19 Dan Agyei 5 0 0 1 68=DF 5 Elliott Moore 5 0 0 0 5FW 27 Elliot Lee 5 0 0 0 510=FW 29 Derick Osei Yaw 0 0 0 3 3MF 30Brandon Barker 3 0 0 0 312=MF 7 Rob Hall 0 0 1 1 2MF 8 Cameron Brannagan 1 0 1 0 2Own goal 2 0 0 0 215=MF 6 Alex Gorrin 1 0 0 0 1MF 14 Anthony Forde 1 0 0 0 1DF 22 Rob Atkinson 1 0 0 0 1DF 24 Jordan Obita 1 0 0 0 1TOTALS7912989
Disciplinary record
NumberNationPositionNameLeague OneFA CupLeague CupFL TrophyTotal1 GKSimon Eastwood 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 02 DF Sean Clare 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 05 DF Josh Ruffels 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 05 DF Elliott Moore 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 06 MF Alex Gorrin 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 08 MF Cameron Brannagan 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 6 09 FW Matty Taylor 6 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 7 010 MF Mark Sykes 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 111 FW Sam Winnall 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 012 DF Sam Long 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 013 GKSam Long 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 014 MF Jack Stevens 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 016 FW Joel Cooper 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 017 MF James Henry 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 118 MF Marcus McGuane 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 019 MF Dan Agyei 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 020 DF Jamie Hanson 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 022 DF Rob Atkinson 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 024 DF Jordan Obita 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 024 DF Joe Grayson 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 025 FW Olamide Shodipo 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 027 FW Elliot Lee 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 028 MF Liam Kelly 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 6 030 MF Brandon Barker 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 035 DF Nico Jones 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0TOTALS70 2 2 0 0 0 7 0 79 2
References