Wycombe Wanderers, our near-neighbours are in town this afternoon, that’s why. But they are not our rivals. Oh no. And we are not theirs. No, no no. We don’t care about each other’s fortunes at all, do we?
Well of course we do.
It’s one of those games we all look forward to, isn’t it? And yet we try to kid ourselves that we do not. Because we are not rivals. No, not in any way.
Well, actually yes, in many ways.
Today will be one of if not the biggest Oxford home crowd of the season, with a bumper home turn-out plus a 1,500+ following expected to journey up the M40 from Buckinghamshire.
But it’s just like any other game really. There’s nothing special to it, just because we happen to be close to each other, so what? There is no rivalry there.
What bunkum!
No it doesn’t ignite the same passions as the increasingly-more-likely visit next season of the web-fingered hordes of Wiltshire. Perhaps also victory this afternoon will never feel as good as would getting one over on a certain jumped-up little Berkshire side that seem to have had ideas above their station in the last decade.
But in the absence of these two, Wycombe will surely do as something to get excited about this season. If either team come away with 3 points today, you tell me it isn’t a rivalry when looking at the differing reactions of the two sets of fans. Even if in the cold, calculated light of day both sets may try to blag indifference, in the heated immediate aftermath of the contest, passions will assuredly be higher than if this were just any random League Two fixture.
If you were to go on proximity alone, Wycombe would win the rivals test hands down. It’s 23 miles from Oxford to Wycombe, and a very easy trip down the M40. Compare that to the distances to Swindon and Reading - 30 and 27 miles respectively, via quickest routes.
OK, so it’s not much fun trying to go via train to Wycombe. You’d need to go from Bicester North or into London and out again – if you are interested. But you are not, so that’s irrelevant.
But it’s not about proximity. Well, not just about proximity anyway. More often it’s about years of playing against each other at a similar level, and the built up tensions of that local derby over many, many seasons. That’s why we don’t like Swindon and Reading – we played them a hell of a lot in the 60s, 70s and 90s (We were a bit too busy winning championships and the league cup to bother with them for most of the 80s, of course).
In both sets of fan’s desire to try and play down any rivalry between Oxford and Wycombe, we often like to point to a lack of history between the two clubs. True enough, Wycombe only entered the football league back in 1993. Not least because of our recent exile to the non-league wastes from whence they came; our respective time together in the same divisions of the football league has been fleeting, in the scheme of things.
But for some of us in our 20s and 30s, matches against Wycombe have seemed as frequent as matches against Reading or Swindon. Certainly in the past 10 years since we moved to Grenoble Road, if they are anything to go by (which they are, after all) we’ve played Swindon only once and Reading only twice. Yet the Chairboys and The U’s have done battle 6 times.
So assuming we both continue to play each other regularly over the years, there is no reason why we can’t develop this rivalry into something we don’t try and brush under the carpet, but embrace it for what it really is. A team from nearby that we don’t really like, and who don’t really like us.
So here’s looking forward to a renewed grudging acquaintance next season, by whatever means that meeting can be arranged. An Oxford win today would be a good start.
I suggest getting a lift with someone though, next time we play at Wycombe. The trains are rubbish.
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