{"id":654571,"date":"2025-05-09T00:00:04","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T04:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=654571"},"modified":"2025-05-08T13:50:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T17:50:20","slug":"oxford-united-team-of-the-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2025\/05\/09\/oxford-united-team-of-the-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Oxford United Team of the Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a season to remember for Oxford United<\/a> as the U’s kept their Championship status intact following promotion from League One.<\/p>\n

It was the first time in 25 years that Oxford were playing in the second tier and we have selected our Team of the Season.<\/p>\n

Oxford United Team of the Season<\/h2>\n

Back Five<\/h3>\n

Jamie Cumming<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s a no-brainer who makes our selection between the sticks; it’s “super Jamie Cumming in goal.”<\/p>\n

The former Chelsea man joined the U’s on loan from the Premier League outfit last January and helped guide the club to promotion via the playoffs.<\/p>\n

While his performances weren’t exceptional in the third tier, Oxford United saw enough to offer him a permanent deal in the summer and despite the arrival of Matt Ingram, Cumming fully established himself as the number one.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old played 45 of the 46 games in the Championship, with Ingram coming in for his only league appearance on the final day at Swansea.<\/p>\n

Although Oxford conceded 65 league goals, Cumming made several important stops throughout the campaign and kept an impressive 13 cleans sheets.<\/p>\n

Greg Leigh<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s not often that a left-back will be the joint-top scorer for the club but that was the case this season as Greg Leigh notched six league goals.<\/p>\n

The defender was second choice behind the experienced Joe Bennett but when he was sidelined through injury, he made the position his own, turning out 34 times.<\/p>\n

He scored goals in wins over Preston and Luton either side of an injury for himself, but he returned to the starting 11 for the final couple of games.<\/p>\n

Ciaron Brown<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Supporter’s Player and Player’s Player of the Season<\/a>, Ciaron Brown put in another excellent campaign for Oxford United.<\/p>\n

The Northern Ireland international made several blocks, tackles and clearances over the course of the campaign but was also important at the other end, scoring four and assisting three in 41 Championship outings.<\/p>\n

Injury curtailed his season early but he played every league minute that he was available, both at centre-back and at left-back.<\/p>\n

Michal Helik<\/strong><\/p>\n

A January signing, Michal Helik hit the ground running following his winter move from Huddersfield.<\/p>\n

The Poland international played every minute in his 20 Championship appearances, scoring an impressive five goals along the way.<\/p>\n

Like Brown, the 29-year-old was a rock at the back and filled in brilliantly with both skipper Elliott Moore and Leicester loanee Ben Nelson sidelined through injury.<\/p>\n

Sam Long<\/strong><\/p>\n

There was a choice of three for the right-back spot, but we’ve gone for hometown hero Sam Long.<\/p>\n

While he was a bit-part player for much of the campaign, his versatility was key for Oxford when he did feature.<\/p>\n

However, his biggest contribution came at Hillsborough as the 30-year-old headed home a winner against Sheffield Wednesday, which all but confirmed Oxford’s safety.<\/p>\n

Honourable Mention: Ben Nelson\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Leicester loanee Ben Nelson played a pivotal role for the U’s but saw much of his season blighted by injury.<\/p>\n

He filled in when skipper Elliott Moore was sidelined and looked a real rock alongside Brown in defence, while also offering some calm and composure on the ball.<\/p>\n

However, an injury in November looked to rule him out for the season, but he made a surprise return to the bench at Hull, in which he replaced Moore, who himself had not long been back from injury.<\/p>\n

From there, he featured in the remaining fixtures besides the final game at Swansea and opened the scoring with his first Oxford goal in a 2-0 win over Sunderland, which kept the U’s in the division.<\/p>\n

Midfield Three<\/h3>\n

Cameron Brannagan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cameron Brannagan needs no introduction for Oxford United fans and while his season was halted with injuries, he still gave his all on the pitch.<\/p>\n

The former Liverpool man turned out 33 times for the U’s, scoring three times, including stunning free-kicks against Blackburn and Cardiff.<\/p>\n

Like many of the others in this team, he made the step up from League One really well and his performances matched his desire.<\/p>\n

Will Vaulks\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oxford’s first signing of the summer was a statement one, landing midfielder Will Vaulks on a free after he rejected a new deal with Sheffield Wednesday.<\/p>\n

However, the 31-year-old didn’t make a good start to his Oxford career, gifting goals to a couple of teams in the early exchanges of the campaign.<\/p>\n

Despite that, he bounced back and started to show his second-tier experience. He netted his only goal with a stunner against Plymouth but the main weapon in his arsenal was his long throws, which caused several teams plenty of problems and led to several goals.<\/p>\n

Alex Matos<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another January arrival, Alex Matos got better and better as the season went on.<\/p>\n

The Chelsea man only completed 90 minutes three times, and that was largely down to his immense work rate in games.<\/p>\n

His constant press, both in attack and defence, his robust tackling and his engine have earned him a position in our team despite turning out just 20 times in the league.<\/p>\n

Honourable Mention: Ruben Rodrigues<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s mad to think that two seasons ago, Ruben Rodrigues was playing in the National League. He made the step up to League One and performed well, as was the case in the second tier despite a lack of consistency.<\/p>\n

The Portuguese turned out 39 times in the league, scoring four and adding three assists, but he arguably struggled more than others despite his goal contributions.<\/p>\n

Front Three<\/h3>\n

Tyler Goodrham<\/strong><\/p>\n

It wasn’t that long ago that Tyler Goodrham netted an important goal against Forest Green to keep Liam Manning’s Oxford in League One.<\/p>\n

Fast forward two seasons, and three managers, and the academy graduate hasn’t looked out of place in the second tier.<\/p>\n

Last season was his breakout campaign and while he struggled to reach the numbers this year, his involvement on and off the ball has improved against better opposition.<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old turned out 42 times in the Championship, scoring three decent goals against Preston, Luton and Millwall.<\/p>\n

Przemyslaw Placheta<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was a hit-and-miss campaign for summer signing Przemyslaw Placheta, but he was the most regular player to feature on the wings under both Des Buckingham and Gary Rowett.<\/p>\n

The Poland international turned out 32 times in the league, scoring three and adding three assists.<\/p>\n

Some of his game frustrated U’s fans at times but his pace and trickery caused plenty of sides problems over the course of the season.<\/p>\n

He, of course, also struck a goal-of-the-season contender in a win over Cardiff in Rowett’s first game, but he probably should have added more.<\/p>\n

Mark Harris<\/strong><\/p>\n

The final player was a difficult choice but we’ve gone for the Welsh international, Mark Harris.<\/p>\n

Having notched 19 goals on the way to promotion last season, many would have expected ‘Sparky’ to be in amongst the goals again this campaign, particularly after he netted four in the opening four games.<\/p>\n

However, his record in front of goal massively declined, adding just a further two in a win over Cardiff and draw at Norwich.<\/p>\n

Like others in our team, Harris also scored a stunner with a 35-yard volley away at Blackburn.<\/p>\n

Honourable Mention: Dane Scarlett<\/strong><\/p>\n

While Harris featured in every league game for Oxford, Dane Scarlett and Tom Bradshaw also featured in a rotation system.<\/p>\n

Scarlett joined the U’s on loan from Tottenham in the summer and netted crucial goals in draws against West Brom and Derby, respectively.<\/p>\n

However, the arrival of Bradshaw meant minutes looked less likely and he returned to Spurs having scored four times in just 20 appearances, many of which were from the bench.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a season to remember for Oxford United as the U’s kept their Championship status intact following promotion from League One. It was the first time in 25 years that Oxford were playing in the second tier and we have selected our Team of the Season. Oxford United Team of the Season Back Five […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":335,"featured_media":654575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8430,33,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-654571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oxford-united","category-championship","category-league-football"],"modified_by":"Dale Ventham, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/335"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654571"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":654576,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654571\/revisions\/654576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}