Why, oh why, do some clubs even bother to change their badges, emblems, logos or whatever they want to call them? When all they do is what Oxford has done over the years. The present offering is just a swapping of previous badges about, but with the dramatic change of adding some rather slim stripes, and they don’t even play in stripes. (PIC 1) However, they did have some thin stripes in 2016 I seem to remember. The badge is in the club colours, with an ox head, and the club’s name displayed on the top. All portrayed in a heraldic shield.
The name of Oxford comes from the Anglo-Saxon word Oxnaford, or ford of the oxen. A ford, as most of you will know, is not just the name of the company that made the Capri. It is also a shallow part of a river that enables the crossing of people and animals. The ox or oxen would have had to cross rivers on their way to market. Where Oxford now stands, there was once just a shallow part of the Thames, or Isis as it’s known, where an Ox could cross.
The old badge of the 1960s, had the ox shown in full, crossing the river, bordered by the name Oxford United. (PIC 2) A change was made in 1979/80 giving the badge a more modern feel, and only the ox head was shown. (PIC 3) Variations on that theme have been used on shirts and stationary, but usually with the river shown, as the Ox is fording a river, giving the town its name. So, why on earth they would leave it off? It suggests lots of money wasting executives sitting in boardrooms discussing how to make what isn’t broke broken. Now the badge represents, Ox instead of Oxford. I am sure you will agree the badge is much better represented with the Thames referenced by the wavy lines. (PICs 4, & 5) The previous offering to today,s badge was adopted to coincide with a move to the Kassam Stadium in 2001 and was designed by a club steward called Bob. Well done Bob, a complete departure from all the badges that went before, so much blue, what were you thinking? (PIC 6) You can find a different coloured badge on the away kit. Why? Answers on a postcard please. Before you rush to the postbox, they do not play in just blue and white when away from home. (PIC 7) In fact you can find any one of these badges on any shirt at any given time, which makes the whole thing confusing. Someone at Oxford needs to give me a call, so I can sort them out once and for all, with a long-lasting badge or logo, after consulting with Oxford fans. I have been known to design the odd badge and business logo. A lot of clubs do have different badges on kits and merchandise, but it is usually the one badge in different colours.
Many thanks, go to Andy Howland, for his help and reply to my letter. Oxford is of course known the world over for its University, but before that, the town had a long religious history. By the first half of the 7th Century, Christianity arrived in the area, although no evidence has been found to show that at that time there was a town where Oxford now stands. It is thought that it was with the foundation of a monastery in the 8th Century, together with the historical figure of St Frideswide that the first signs of a town became evident in the area. The monastery, believed to be located on the site of Christ Church, was destroyed by fire and then rebuilt as an Augustinian Priory in 1122. The existence of the monastery was confirmed by the finding of a cemetery in Christ Church, which also shows the start of a small community in the area. Where the original ford is located, from where the city gets its name, has been the subject of some speculation, but evidence suggests the ford at North Hinksey, as the most likely place.
From there grew the town, then the colleges. Then came King Henry VIII’s reformation, which meant the taking over of all the religious buildings. They, in turn were handed over to the colleges, that in turn gave birth to the university, and the world-famous seat of learning that is the city of Oxford, with its dreaming spires and very high death rate if Morse and Lewis are anything to go by.
By the late 1800s, only one thing was missing from this historical monument of a city, and that of course was a football team. So in 1893 an amateur club was formed and named Headington FC. Headington came from a small village team, and were known in Oxford as the boys from up the hill. They, too, had their own badge. (PIC 8) In 1960, in order to appeal to the whole city, Headington changed their name to Oxford United, and joined the Football League in 1962. They also tweaked Headington’s badge to use as their own, as shown in picture two. After all, they were the same team. The club’s nickname is “The U’s” and there are two schools of thought on this, if you will pardon the pun: U for univer-city and U for united. Oxford left their old Manor Ground in 2001 to move into the £15 million, 12,400 all-seated Kassam Stadium, and local rivals are Swindon. Any drop in attendance can be easily explained, as the murder rate in Oxford has soared since the death of Inspector Morse, and the well Oxford-educated serial killer knows Lewis couldn’t catch a cold. I made a rather cheap-looking set of videos awhile back about some of the badges including Oxford, if you would like to waste two minutes of your life then you will find it at, https://youtu.be/IiH_RiUWFXE Learn more on Oxford United by rolling up your trouser legs and paddle your way across to www.oufc.co.uk
