Oxford Ultras - Over & Out

I would like to say that when I first moved to Oxford from a previous city where I attended a few Premier League matches a season, it was the atmosphere created by the ultras that completely drew me in and attracted me to the club. It's the reason that I have had a season ticket for three consecutive years now high up in Block 19. It's the reason I've attended dozens of away matches. It's the reason I've ended up moving home to within walking distance of the stadium. The club has become a huge part of my life and I know for a fact the difference between me attending 40+ games a season as opposed to sporadically attending a few big fixtures a year is entirely down to the Ultras.

So I would like to thank them for all their hard work and efforts although I am incredibly sad to see that this will be coming to an end.

I would be very happy to volunteer my time to assist in any future plans put forward by fans to try as best as possible (although an impossible job) to recreate some of the atmosphere that will be lost.
 
A very sad day indeed, thanks for all the hard work and effort that was put in by the ultras.
 
Last edited:
What, exactly, is it about young fans bringing colour and noise to the ground that certain jobsworths at OUFC find so threatening? Very depressing. Shame the Ultras are stopping their activity.

Certain parts of OUFC are working towards improving and enhancing the match day experience for all attending OUFC home games at the soul less sanitized unwelcoming breeze block

Shame that the left-hand is not communicating with the right hand at oufc regarding the Ultras and what they contribute to the match day experience.

If true (no reason to doubt either) a freelance employee of OUFC to speak to or treat any paying customer in the bullying way that the Ultras have been on the end of (as mentioned above), is absolutely disgraceful. I've emailed OUFC slo and comms on the subject and as an oxvox member I sincerely hope that @OxVox will be raising this with the relevant individuals at OUFC... with a view to sending the bullying individual on an intensive course to improve people skills

Bullying of any sort is abhorrent... bullying paying customers is totally unacceptable
 
From the outside looking in it seemed the writing was on the wall from the Flaggate episode with Eales and GBT where one ultra was invited to a meeting and then ganged up on.

With the change at the top we have seen little difference in a true desire to work together. I doubt it's active dislike, more a sense of don't really care.

The stadium will be a duller place without you, chaps! Do hope we'll see your work still at at least a couple of games a season.
 
It seems their mind may be made up but if it’s about gagging the flags each week maybe Oxvox could find an intervention route whereby a permanent ultra style mural is created there or permission to have flags left there in some shape or form is established.

If it’s the hassle of the flags there must be a workaround.

I’d hope someone would reach out to Matt Everett too as he’s a fanatical supporter and was very involved in traditional terrace style support back in the day. He may be able to become the relationship manager as he has a very common sense approach to most things
 
The Yellow Army is every fan (like it or not!)

It relies on fans to organise the things it does. So for "it" to take on some of the work would depend on fans in the East Stand taking on the task of putting the flags up at the back of the stand.

if you are interested in continuing the brilliant work the Ultras have done I'd suggest getting in touch with them and seeing if they'd be open to you using their flags and putting them up each game.

Very patronising answer. Thanks.
 
I respected him more when he was being sensitive than when he just gave up being sensitive because it got too hard.
 
What a shame. The Ultras have done a brilliant job at ensuring at least some colour in the ground. The bespoke displays will live long in the memory, so thank you for all your efforts.

Now is the chance for the club to step up and properly support the Ultras. If any of the issues are caused by FK then I have some sympathy with the club but as it seems the club have recently improved relations with Stadco then maybe this isn't the case.

I appreciate it takes time to hang / take down the flags but what would the ultras (or some other group) need to make life easier?

- a later time slot to hang the flags?
- easier storage? (Do you store them at the ground?).
- Plastic covers? ( so they could remain hung, maybe a fire issue?)
- easier access to hang? Assume you are reliant on someone letting you in?

If possible it would be good to know what would help? Then present this to the club. If signed off by the club then perhaps fans could volunteer on a rota basis to help? I’m sure some would volunteer on a part time / rota basis.

If this isn’t a FK related issue then it should be easy for the club to help. If the club decides not to help that would be disgraceful.
 
Why did the group fall short of what you hoped for? Numbers?

Not necessarily numbers as a standalone disappointment. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I'd always hoped that at some point it would snowball and the mentality would become infectious and spread throughout the stand and club. Maybe it was illusions of grandeur but I'd always invisioned us eventually working something out with the club leading to us having a dedicated section near the front where we could lead the stand all game every game. We'd be more visible, more approachable and have more influence over the atmosphere... More people would get more tightly involved, and the whole scene would catch fire. I don't feel this was ever really close to being a reality, ten years on we are still crammed in at the back of block 19. And without sounding like I'm having a dig out at our fans, I don't think the mentality ever really spread out of block 19 and across the stand quite like some other groups in the country have managed to influence happening at their clubs. Numbers have remained similar but it's more a case of a continuing cycle of lads wanting to get involved, realising that actually the hassle of the whole thing actually outweighs the enjoyment of it and they slowly drift away over time (case in point - me; I've been to three games in the past two years, there's a hell of a lot more to life than designing, making, painting, hanging flags etc, no matter how much you ultimately love your club)
We will never work something out being allowed near the front, a combination of not wanting to relocate existing ST holders and the fact the club can't really be seen encouraging standing. We tried moves to the sides where it was sparser in regards to existing ST holders and by doing so just alienated ourselves from the small block of other singers in the middle. And now the lads can't even just hang up some flags on the back wall without it becoming a tirade of meetings and beurocracy. Align this with the age of the current lads who've been running things, early 20s, and I imagine they're probably feeling similar to what I felt like towards the end of Appleton's time at the club; ie 'if this idea we've been trying to imbed hasn't taken off yet, with all the amazing things that have happened in the years since 2009, then it probably never is, and I've given more than I probably should have to try and get it to flourish, however now I wanna put that effort into other experiences in my life'. And that's how I felt after a promotion season and a fantastic year in league 1 with Appleton! So for everyone involved to be feeling similar with the current state of affairs at the club then I dont blame them at all for calling it a day.
Reading everyone's messages makes me proud that myself and the other founder members of Giallo Esercito 09 (remember them? Some dodgy Italian and a fearsome skull for a badge) built the group into what it became, with the second wave of inspiration coming from the 'new gen' TBFUTH, coallescing with what we already had into the OU09 of the past few years. It is sad it never quite become what we'd dreamed, but enjoy the memories, don't be sad it's over, be pleased that it happened.
 
Echo Luca Brasis post. It's the combination of so many factors that have all accumulated at once, so its important to not shout and hiss at the club as if it's entirely their fault.
Our material supplier who cut us very generous discounts also dissolved (can see why now!), meaning future displays will cost twice as much in future is just another thing to hit us at the same time.
Group members who are clinical to designing and creating displays wanting to move on with their lives, careers etc.
You get quite a few young lads wanting to get involved, but very quickly back away when they see the sheer effort it takes just to put flags up on a match day, let alone the 10-12 hour shifts over many weekends when it comes to making displays etc. All your free time ends up being dedicated to making flags, banners and designing. After so many years the fun stops and you're doing it out of blind loyalty. And the talent a couple of them hold for designing is incredible, it'll certainly never be matched IMO. There are other reasons I can't go into on here too which only influence the decision more.
It was discussed last summer, so it certainly isn't a reactionary decision either. Good things don't last forever, but let's be happy it happened and we were all there to enjoy it ?
 
Not necessarily numbers as a standalone disappointment. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I'd always hoped that at some point it would snowball and the mentality would become infectious and spread throughout the stand and club. Maybe it was illusions of grandeur but I'd always invisioned us eventually working something out with the club leading to us having a dedicated section near the front where we could lead the stand all game every game. We'd be more visible, more approachable and have more influence over the atmosphere... More people would get more tightly involved, and the whole scene would catch fire. I don't feel this was ever really close to being a reality, ten years on we are still crammed in at the back of block 19. And without sounding like I'm having a dig out at our fans, I don't think the mentality ever really spread out of block 19 and across the stand quite like some other groups in the country have managed to influence happening at their clubs. Numbers have remained similar but it's more a case of a continuing cycle of lads wanting to get involved, realising that actually the hassle of the whole thing actually outweighs the enjoyment of it and they slowly drift away over time (case in point - me; I've been to three games in the past two years, there's a hell of a lot more to life than designing, making, painting, hanging flags etc, no matter how much you ultimately love your club)
We will never work something out being allowed near the front, a combination of not wanting to relocate existing ST holders and the fact the club can't really be seen encouraging standing. We tried moves to the sides where it was sparser in regards to existing ST holders and by doing so just alienated ourselves from the small block of other singers in the middle. And now the lads can't even just hang up some flags on the back wall without it becoming a tirade of meetings and beurocracy. Align this with the age of the current lads who've been running things, early 20s, and I imagine they're probably feeling similar to what I felt like towards the end of Appleton's time at the club; ie 'if this idea we've been trying to imbed hasn't taken off yet, with all the amazing things that have happened in the years since 2009, then it probably never is, and I've given more than I probably should have to try and get it to flourish, however now I wanna put that effort into other experiences in my life'. And that's how I felt after a promotion season and a fantastic year in league 1 with Appleton! So for everyone involved to be feeling similar with the current state of affairs at the club then I dont blame them at all for calling it a day.
Reading everyone's messages makes me proud that myself and the other founder members of Giallo Esercito 09 (remember them? Some dodgy Italian and a fearsome skull for a badge) built the group into what it became, with the second wave of inspiration coming from the 'new gen' TBFUTH, coallescing with what we already had into the OU09 of the past few years. It is sad it never quite become what we'd dreamed, but enjoy the memories, don't be sad it's over, be pleased that it happened.

Very well put.

Personally I had a break from watching Oxford - and football - from the age of 18 until I got a season ticket again at 26.

I wanted to experience other things and new opportunities. Don’t think there’s anything wrong or unusual in that and it was nice to return. In the coming years I’d like to bring my daughters along and continue the cycle.

I’ve banged on about it so many times on here but the club has scored a major own goal over the last ten years by not encouraging and supporting the Ultras. No recognition was ever given on the amazing voluntarily work they do but they happily retweeted and used images of displays which were done by committed fans.

A lost opportunity by the club - and some of our more miserable fans who’ve sniped - not to have helped created an even bigger and better atmosphere by working with the Ultras, and - most importantly - bringing in a new generation of diehard fans.

The atmosphere, colour and ambition of the supporters will be slightly dimmer than it once was come August.
 
OUFC should take seroius note of what @Luca Brasi and @WuTang are saying above IF OUFC are serious about improving the matchday experience

Communicate with the Ultras instead of treating them with contempt ( Mr mixter?) May pay dividends?
 
Last edited:
If only we had a gaping big gap to fill at one end of the ground where exuberant young fans could go and enjoy themselves, perhaps while standing up even, probably just a ridiculous idea as our ground is packed tight with stands and has been finished for twenty years.

Fair play to the lads who put the effort in though, not always agreed with everything they have done but never doubted their efforts, highlight is obviously the embarrassing the scum.
 
I really do hope there isn’t a sinister reason behind this. Thank you for the last decade guys. Certainly has added to the matchday experience.
 
Back
Top Bottom