We’ll support
you ever more...
Malcolm Shottons yellow
army...
Get your pens out for
the lads...
All we are saying is
tell us the truth...
Oxford, United, will
never be defeated...
Welcome to the first edition of FOUL Mouth - the first of a regular series of newsletters to keep the supporters of Oxford United and members of FOUL up to date on what we’ve been doing to help save our club. Although it seems a lot longer its still just one month since FOUL was formed. In that time a lot has happened both in terms of what FOUL’s been doing and in terms of events surrounding the club itself. As most readers will already know our main, in fact only, objective is the survival of the football club we all love; Oxford United and, at the time of writing at least, we haven’t failed with that objective. Despite players and staff going unpaid and no concrete news of the proposed Grenoble take-over of the club the club is still hanging on. The club has sold one (and by the time you read this, probably two) players to stave off the administrators or receivers but we’re by no means safe yet and there’s a lot still to be done.
The first things we wanted to do when we started FOUL was to publicise the plight of the club to as many people as possible in the Oxford area and to the country as a whole. Everybody should now be aware of the fantastic show of support for the club demonstrate at the town hall meeting two weeks ago. Many have commented on how the town hall hadn’t seen that many people (over 800) for many years and what a positive show of support for the club and the fact that this is the one issue that the people of Oxford are prepared to turn out in numbers to support. The town hall meeting not only gave us the publicity, in the press and on TV and radio that we needed to launch the campaign it also gave us the confidence to carry the campaign forward and showed we have the backing of the supporters.
The launch of FOUL and the town hall meeting also gave us a focus for widespread media attention with in depth articles on the club appearing in all of the national broadsheets and most of the tabloid newspapers. In addition to this national press coverage we also have seen features on local TV as well as national coverage from Sky sports, Channel Four and ITV’s Nationwide League Extra. We’ve also managed, one way or another, to get on just about every sports related TV or radio phone-in show to get the club’s plight publicised.
Messages of support have come in from literally all over the World with hundreds of emails and letters from supporters of Oxford and many other league clubs. Not only have people offered messages of support but they’ve also offered a lot of practical advice. Particularly worth mentioning are supporters of clubs like AFC Bournemouth, Brighton & Hove Albion and Charlton, to name just three, who like us have looked into the abyss of losing their football clubs and have pulled their clubs back and gone on to survive and in the case of Charlton and Bournemouth particularly, prosper.
So far we’ve got over 250 members of FOUL and the forms are still coming in. If you haven’t already joined FOUL and are reading this then fill in the form on this newsletter and become a member of FOUL. The more members we have the more people in Oxford and beyond will have to take notice of what we’re saying. You don’t have to send any money and it doesn’t matter if you can’t spare the time to get actively involved in FOUL, but of course you’re very welcome if you can, the most important thing is to add your name to the growing number of people who are behind what we’re trying to do to save our club.
Since the town hall meeting we’ve been busy coming up with ideas to keep Oxford United in the news. One of the ways we’ve been doing this is the campaign to get Malcolm Shotton nominated for BBC Sports Personality of the Year. We don’t expect him to win, although many would agree he probably should, but by getting enough votes we do hope to get some valuable publicity. A small army of FOUL members were out on the streets of Oxford and Headington before the recent Bradford City game collecting votes and these along with many filled in at offices, factories and pubs around the county have resulted in well over 3000 votes being handed in at BBC Television Centre before the voting deadline.
At the next two home games we plan to kick off an appeal for all 92 football league clubs in England to send us a scarf to show their support for the continued survival of Oxford United. We hope to join all the scarves together and stretch them as far round the Manor as we can. Letters, emails and phone calls are already bombarding every club in the country to try and achieve this aim. Once we’ve received scarves from the English clubs we don’t plan to stop there, we’ll be pushing on into Scotland and the rest of Europe. So if you know a supporter of another club ask him for his scarf, or if, before you saw the light, you used to support another club and want to donate a scarf then send them in to FOUL at 5 Whittle Road, Thame Oxon OX9 3PF.
There are lots of things that Oxford supporters can do to help out and we’ll keep on coming up with ideas and events for people to join in with and show their support, but one thing everybody can do now is get your pens out and start writing letters. Everybody can write to their local MP and if you live in the city of Oxford write to your local city councillor. Outside the city you can write to your county councillor stressing the fantastic educational work the club does throughout Oxfordshire. Here’s a list of local MPs who can all be reached at The House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.
| Banbury | Tony Baldry (Con) |
| Henley | Michael Heseltine(Con) |
| Oxford East | Andrew Smith (Lab) |
| Oxford West & Abingdon | Dr Evan Harris (LD) |
| Wantage | Robert Jackson (Con) |
| Witney | Shaun Woodward (Con) |
If you don’t know who your local councillor is call Oxford City Council on 01865 726871 or Oxfordshire County Council on 01865 792422.
It doesn’t matter if you’re not the world’s greatest letter writer just explain what Oxford United means to you and the community as a whole and ask for their support in the club’s continued survival.
One message that came out loud and clear from the town hall meeting was that the supporters want to know exactly whats going on at the club. From the exact cash-flow situation to the proposed takeover by the mysterious Grenoble investments the fans of Oxford United want to be told the truth. The FOUL committee has taken up this call and has arranged a meeting with the club’s managing director, Keith Cox. Top of the list of questions we have for that meeting is a date for the promised open meeting where supporters can ask questions about the true state of the clubs finances and future. We also have insisted that the meeting is "on the record" and you can be sure that everything we learn or discuss at that meeting will be passed on to the supporters of Oxford United.
We’ve come a long way in a short space of time but we’ve still got a long way to go to ensure the survival of the football club we all love and that the city of Oxford needs. The FOUL committee would like to thank everybody for all the support that has been shown and money that people have donated so far towards the financing of our campaign. Particular thanks are due to the hundreds of people who turned out at the town hall meeting and generously donated almost £4,000 on the night. This money has all been handed over to the SOUS fund which has already gone to benefit the many back room staff who keep the club running in almost impossible conditions. You will also be pleased to hear that FOUL reimbursed the club for the lost gate receipt's for the reserve game held on the same night as the town hall meeting.
Once again a big thank you to everybody. Our continued single aim is the survival of Oxford United and you can all play a part in this. If all else fails our aim will be to set up a true community football club in Oxford that all supporters can be a part of. Keep on Fighting for Oxford United’s Life and we’re sure you’ll all agree that:
Oxford, United will never be defeated!
