Des Buckingham’s Oxford United picked up four points from their two league games over the last seven days.
We’ll also bring you an update on the club’s stadium plans in this weekly round-up.
Oxford United Weekly Round-Up: Wigan Win, Stadium Update and Wycombe Draw
Win Over Wigan
Oxford returned to the top six with an entertaining 4-2 win over Wigan at Grenoble Road.
The Latics took the lead five minutes before the break but Josh Murphy scored his first league goal for the club on the brink of half time.
After the restart, Cameron Brannagan smashed one towards goal and it went in via a deflection before Ruben Rodrigues added a third, tapping home after Tyler Goodrham struck the post.
Wigan did reduce the deficit but Goodrham wouldn’t be denied his goal, turning a late effort in to seal the win.
Oxford United Stadium Plans Update
During the week, Oxford United announced plans to build the first stadium in the country to be powered solely by electricity.
The U’s are looking to build a state-of-the-art stadium for the 2026/27 season with their lease at Grenoble Road expiring in two years.
The club released a statement, with Jon Clarke, Development Director at Oxford United, saying: “The standout element of the stadium is it will be the most sustainable mid-sized sports venue in the country.
“We want to make the most of the opportunity to create something special – it would be one of the greenest football stadiums to be built.”
The statement continued: “The proposed 16,000-capacity stadium, near Kidlington in Oxford, would not use any high carbon intensity fossil fuels, such as gas.
“Modern building fabric design and heat recovery solutions would also be used to maximise thermal efficiency. The use of another low-carbon energy technology, air source heat pumps, as the development’s primary heat source would provide an estimated 80 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions per year when compared to gas boilers, when aggregated over the year.
“The news came just days after the club announced it had signed the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework to help tackle the climate crisis. By joining the Framework, the club has underlined its pledge to playing its part to ensure the sports sector achieves a low-carbon future. The club is committed to halving its carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving net-zero by 2040.
“The stadium would also include drainage systems, rain storage and recycling solutions to reuse rainwater, while plans to enhance biodiversity on the land at the Triangle would achieve a significant net gain.”
Mr Clarke added: “The stadium design has sustainability and visitor experience at its core.
“We’ve maximised modern technology, design and progressive thinking to create the benchmark for future design of stadiums with the protection of our planet in firm focus.
“By avoiding natural gas usage on site and by using highly efficient equipment to serve a high-quality building, the carbon emissions associated with this unique venue will be radically reduced resulting in a very low impact home.”
Stalemate At Wycombe
Oxford ended the week with a goalless draw on the road at Wycombe.
For the U’s, it was a first clean sheet in 15 games in all competitions but it was their goalkeeper Jamie Cumming that was the busier of the two shot stoppers.
Despite the draw, Des Buckingham’s side remain in the top six ahead of home games against Northampton and Leyton Orient next week.
