Memory Lane 2005-06 Season - 20 years on

[unification]

Since we have a lull in Oxford United related matters due to another international (seriously, have two breaks and play three qualifiers in them rather than three lots of breaks – there’s another due in November) and kind of triggered by @OxBlogger talking of his next book project covering Oxford United in the 2000s (a sure fire hit for the masochists out there) on a recent Behind the Badge podcast, it dawned on me that at the end of this season it will be 20 years since our relegation from the EFL. This was not just a relegation but a seismic one and the aftershocks from it still impact us to this day.

Despite the end result, 2005-06 wasn’t a horror show on the pitch like 2000-01. Relegation wasn’t truly talked about until the final few weeks of the season. 2005-06 was one of frustration yet, with a couple of fixes, that team would have been good enough to stay up, ie a better left back and someone who could score. I don’t recall us being amongst the title favourites at the beginning of the season, but I don’t think any of us thought that we’d end up being relegated. No team at that point had ever been relegated with 49 points. In the end, it was death by a thousand cuts as each and every decision made inched the trapdoor open:

• Brian Talbot’s vain attempts to bring in Onandi Lowe
• Each and every tried-and-failed striking experiment (Eric Sabin, Andy Campbell, Neville Roach, Scott Fitzgerald, Yemi Odubade, Tim Sills)
• Talbot falling out with Craig Davies, Chris Hackett and Jon Ashton
• The Lee Bradbury contract palava
• The ‘storming of the boardroom’ leading to Kassam’s departure and the stadium scenario we find ourselves in now
• Darren Patterson’s pragmatism given way for Jim Smith’s tidal wave of Portsmouth ringers to help us out of the mix
• Steve Claridge’s printed Oxford shirt (which is probably in landfill somewhere)
• The dead-and-buried Chester and Ian Atkins’s Torquay having resurgences as we treaded water
• The Leyton Orient game with the away support having all of the North Stand. It remains our highest ever attendance at the Kassam Stadium and won’t ever be topped in my view.

We got back to the EFL eventually and the awful ‘00s gave way to the fruitful ‘10s and ‘20s. Still, 2005-06 remains one of the lowest moments in the club’s history ending with that Leyton Orient game.

Any abiding memories of it and when did you realise that the wheels were falling off?

 

[SteMerritt]

Wrexham away, where Denis Smith plainly tried to gift Oxford a much-needed win with his team selection and substitutions, and we STILL weren't good enough to get the points. What a dark dark day that was.

 

[m]

I remember hearing Robbie Williams of Accrington talking to someone on Radio 1, 'not that one, lol' was basically the theme of the interview. That and the likelihood of Accrington returning to the league.

I remember being distinctly unamused by the whole thing, and had the belief than that we would go down. Don't remember when this would have been mind.

We shouldn't have gone down with some of those players. But then you look at some of the others, I'm looking at you, Sabin, and think, 'yeah, fair enough'.

 

[m]

Wrexham away, where Denis Smith plainly tried to gift Oxford a much-needed win with his team selection and substitutions, and we STILL weren't good enough to get the points. What a dark dark day that was.

I got spat at by a Welsh kid that day.

It's one of the reasons I'd happily see Wrexham relegated.

 

[Stranger]

I think the roots of the relegation went back to January, when we were mid-table but got rid of Hackett, Davies and Bradbury and replaced them with Neville Roach, Tim Sills and Yemi.

Then, after Smith replaced Patto and brought in Guatelli, Horsted and Gemmill (tbf, N'Toya and Jay Smith were both fairly decent for the level) there was no coming back

 

[Foley]

Wrexham away, where Denis Smith plainly tried to gift Oxford a much-needed win with his team selection and substitutions, and we STILL weren't good enough to get the points. What a dark dark day that was.

That was the game where I actually thought that we could and probably would go down.
THAT Andy Burgess miss ( open goal near the end that would have won us the game) still sticks in the mind ( although I try and blank it out as much as possible)

 

[SirAndyOfCrosby]

I remember being distinctly unamused by the whole thing, and had the belief than that we would go down.

You're in the minority, there. I don't think anyone really thought we would, until, of course, we did.

As above, a catalogue of errors - it takes an incredible amount of incompetence to get relegated out of the Football League.

That said, just looking at the table from that season - what is striking is that everyone from 11th placed down has subsequently dropped out of the League.

Infact, all bar 4 of the sides in League Two that season (Northampton, Wycombe, Peterborough, Shrewsbury) have gone down since.

Which I guess goes to show that anyone crap enough to be f*cking around in League Two for any length of time can slip away with relative ease.

 

[Lost Marbles]

A strange time for me. I had a season ticket in 2001-02 (first season at the Kassam) but stopped going halfway through, mainly because my friends stopped going. I remember my mate dropping out of Exeter away on the day and I went on the train on my own, it was a miserable experience as a 15 year old (I'd quite happily go on my own these days!) Home games were very boring so we spent our money on gigs and festivals instead. I went to the Sw**don FA cup game in December 2002 and then my next football match of any kind was an appallingly incompetent defeat at a bitterly cold Edgeley Park in March 2006, that effectively got us relegated (although there was still hope at that point). Ten days later I watched us draw 1-1 at Gigg Lane. I listened to the Leyton Orient game alone in my student bedroom, crying at the end in despair and faded memories of the late '90's in the London Road.

 

[m]

You're in the minority, there. I don't think anyone really thought we would, until, of course, we did.

As above, a catalogue of errors - it takes an incredible amount of incompetence to get relegated out of the Football League.

That said, just looking at the table from that season - what is striking is that everyone from 11th placed down has subsequently dropped out of the League.

Infact, all bar 4 of the sides in League Two that season (Northampton, Wycombe, Peterborough, Shrewsbury) have gone down since.

Which I guess goes to show that anyone crap enough to be f*cking around in League Two for any length of time can slip away with relative ease.

So the day of the big homecoming, the 1-0 v Posh, I was actually at a Wedding. Maybe I never got the lift that everyone else did? I don't know. Maybe I'm just a miserable f**k.

 

[Older Shotts]

Stockport away in the March of that season sticks in the mind. Vividly remember listening on Radio Oxford and I think John Ashton made a mistake that resulted in us losing and that felt like a massive turning point. I still feel miserable at even the mention of Stockport.

Wrexham away.. I still have to look up online to check we didn't lose as it felt like a defeat. Not been there since, and have no plans to ever go again. Although probably should do to banish those awful memories.

I said before the season to my mate "we'll go down with Talbot in charge". Not sure i fully believed it, but expected us to be rubbish. Only prediction I've ever got right before a season. Have never made one since.

 

[AbsoluteZero]

The appalling first half display against Rushden started my worries even though it was only January. That performance started to make me think that we actually were the worst team in the league at the time and it was more likely that we were relying on the teams below us failing that we were capable of dealing with it ourselves.

 

[Lost Marbles]

Stockport away in the March of that season sticks in the mind. Vividly remember listening on Radio Oxford and I think John Ashton made a mistake that resulted in us losing and that felt like a massive turning point. I still feel miserable at even the mention of Stockport.

It was worse than that: Oxford (possibly Jon Ashton) made three short back passes that put County through on goal. They only scored from one of them, because they were an awful team too. Then to cap it off we gave away a penalty with three minutes left. I remember my mate laughing about how bad our defending was and he was an FC United fan!

 

[Marked Ox]

Happily seem to have blanked pretty much all of that season out of my memory.

 

[unification]

Stockport away in the March of that season sticks in the mind. Vividly remember listening on Radio Oxford and I think John Ashton made a mistake that resulted in us losing and that felt like a massive turning point. I still feel miserable at even the mention of Stockport.

I have some vague memory of Jerome's commentary essentially going 'don't do it, Jon, don't do it ... he's done it. It's a penalty to Stockport'. It was Talbot's last match and I think Jon Ashton had mentally checked out too.



He really, really, really didn't have to make that challenge ...

I have to say the moment it hit how much trouble we were in was the 1-3 defeat to Northampton before the Wrexham game. We deserved nothing from it. Northampton were a decent side who got promoted and we were so far off it.

 

[unification]

The appalling first half display against Rushden started my worries even though it was only January. That performance started to make me think that we actually were the worst team in the league at the time and it was more likely that we were relying on the teams below us failing that we were capable of dealing with it ourselves.

Burgess was put at LB for that game and we were 3-0 down inside 22 minutes. Talbot made his only subs on 34 minutes which included bringing Ben Weedon on.

» Fixture

rageonline.co.uk

I cannot work out what the formation and positions would have been from that XI. Even if you account for Quinn playing CM, there's only two midfielders.

Another low point was our Boxing Day attendance. Normally one you'd expect a few more through the gate than usual ...

» Fixture

rageonline.co.uk

5,626 ... jeez

 

[werthersoriginal]

I wasn't going much at this time and was on holiday for the Orient game. I remember Hackett, Davies, and Bradbury were sold in January, which I believe was Kassam's doing, to save money? Hardly surprising we went down after that.

 

[mooro]

You're in the minority, there. I don't think anyone really thought we would, until, of course, we did.

As above, a catalogue of errors - it takes an incredible amount of incompetence to get relegated out of the Football League.

That said, just looking at the table from that season - what is striking is that everyone from 11th placed down has subsequently dropped out of the League.

Infact, all bar 4 of the sides in League Two that season (Northampton, Wycombe, Peterborough, Shrewsbury) have gone down since.

Which I guess goes to show that anyone crap enough to be f*cking around in League Two for any length of time can slip away with relative ease.

Wow, that is remarkable

 

[Foxy]

An absolute miserable season. We deserved to go down in the end, although I never believed we would. Torquay's late run under the guidance of Atkins was blooming agonising.

 

[MarkG]

I was back living in Kennington at the time so started going to a few home games each season as it was an easy walk across from Sandford Lock. If I remember the North Stand had already been closed to home fans for most of the season, and only reopened once the takeover happened.

Still shocked at what a mess Nick Merry and by association Ian Lenagan got us in by separating ownership of the club from the ground. We really should have had someone who could afford the whole package. I realise Lenagan had the best intentions, but probably didn't realise how difficult and expensive owning a club would be.
The next February I moved away from Oxford, and needed something to do on Saturdays as I was in a new town and got bored of watching the Saturday racing. We had lots of games in the South East: Woking, Aldershot, Crawley, Gravesend, Dagenham, Grays, St Albans, Stevenage, so it was quite easy to get in the habit.

 

[Londox]

In hindsight, was relegation to the conference a good thing for us? Eventually seemed to hit rock bottom and start an upwards trend of the club that has never really seemed to stop (albeit we stagnated at times under CW and KR)

I remember the Wrexham away game, of course Orient home going down.

If I remember T'cham N'toya had some good games for us back end of the season. Wasn't enough in the end.

 

[Lost Marbles]

In hindsight, was relegation to the conference a good thing for us? Eventually seemed to hit rock bottom and start an upwards trend of the club that has never really seemed to stop (albeit we stagnated at times under CW and KR)

Relegation, possibly. As posted above, it was Nick Merry leaving the stadium with Kassam that was the real disaster. Relegation was just the rotten cherry on top of the huge pile of excrement.

 

[EastStandKieran]

I went to the Wrexham game what a nightmare that was couldn't get tickets for the orient game so stood on the mound or climb a tree behind the fence end

In a perverse kinda way I actually enjoyed playing in non league we were a very big fish in a little pond nearly every away game we had more fans than the home team did . It was fun until the Exeter play off home leg that was another dark moment because after that it all went downhill until wilder took us on a journey

 

[Londox]

Relegation, possibly. As posted above, it was Nick Merry leaving the stadium with Kassam that was the real disaster. Relegation was just the rotten cherry on top of the huge pile of excrement.

In my naivety I genuinely believed we would p**s the conference and be back with ease.
I think Carlisle had done it a year earlier so I thought we would.

 

[EastStandKieran]

In my naivety I genuinely believed we would p**s the conference and be back with ease.
I think Carlisle had done it a year earlier so I thought we would.

Yea definitely I thought we'd win the league probably undefeated

 

[Colin B]

I was back living in Kennington at the time so started going to a few home games each season as it was an easy walk across from Sandford Lock. If I remember the North Stand had already been closed to home fans for most of the season, and only reopened once the takeover happened.

Still shocked at what a mess Nick Merry and by association Ian Lenagan got us in by separating ownership of the club from the ground. We really should have had someone who could afford the whole package. I realise Lenagan had the best intentions, but probably didn't realise how difficult and expensive owning a club would be.
The next February I moved away from Oxford, and needed something to do on Saturdays as I was in a new town and got bored of watching the Saturday racing. We had lots of games in the South East: Woking, Aldershot, Crawley, Gravesend, Dagenham, Grays, St Albans, Stevenage, so it was quite easy to get in the habit.

I remember talking to Nick Merry after the deal had been agreed, but before it was finalised. He (well, as we all now know Lenagan) was initially going to buy the club and stadium together, but it was proving difficult to get the stadium done quickly, so he was offered the deal for the club on its own. I remember vividly saying to him not to do it and his response was almost these exact words,

"Don't worry, it will only be for a few months, but we need to get hold of the club quickly to save the season. We have to do it this way to get that bastard Kassam out, and then we'll buy the stadium".

It has been the longest few months known to man.

 

[SteMerritt]

The bloody Orient game... Not only did I get to see my team relegated out of the Football League, but then I had to go into London straight after the game because my then girlfriend (now Mrs. M) wanted to see Snow Patrol, a band who aren't really to my taste. To be fair to them though, they had everyone, bar one bloke (me), jumping and having a good time.

 

[Stranger]

The bloody Orient game... Not only did I get to see my team relegated out of the Football League, but then I had to go into London straight after the game because my then girlfriend (now Mrs. M) wanted to see Snow Patrol, a band who aren't really to my taste. To be fair to them though, they had everyone, bar one bloke (me), jumping and having a good time.

I don't know which is worse, to be honest. Getting relegated and spending four years in the wilderness, playing some of the worst teams at some of the worst grounds ever. Or watching Snow Patrol

 

[SteMerritt]

I don't know which is worse, to be honest. Getting relegated and spending four years in the wilderness, playing some of the worst teams at some of the worst grounds ever. Or watching Snow Patrol

If I was given the choice again, I guess I'd go with Snow Patrol. They are done in 2 hours so the pain is much shorter in duration.

 

[holdsteady]

In hindsight, was relegation to the conference a good thing for us? Eventually seemed to hit rock bottom and start an upwards trend of the club that has never really seemed to stop (albeit we stagnated at times under CW and KR)

I remember the Wrexham away game, of course Orient home going down.

If I remember T'cham N'toya had some good games for us back end of the season. Wasn't enough in the end.

My memory of N’Toya was us wanting to sign him but he wouldn’t even return our calls, don’t think dropping into the conference with us was an attractive proposition to any player.

We were a mess, had been for years and if it wasn’t that that season it could well have been another, look how long it took to get back into the FL, but it doesn’t make it any less painful. We definitely had to hit rock bottom before the rise back up the leagues.

 

[Swinny]

I listened to the Leyton Orient game alone in my student bedroom, crying at the end in despair and faded memories of the late '90's in the London Road.

I wasn't going to many games in those days and missed out on a ticket for that game. I'd only recently started my own business so was very much thinking "my time is better spent working anyway"...sat in my basement office just staring at the walls as I listened to it on Radio Oxford...don't think I moved for about 10 minutes after it all finished.

Then went into town and got quite pished...