By Brad Saxton | Image by Simon Godfrey
Ahead of Tuesday’s Vanarama National League fixture at the LNER Community Stadium, we take a look at our next opponents, Oxford City.
Newly-promoted Oxford City will take on the Minstermen for the first-ever time following on from their promotion via the National League South playoffs last season.
They head up to North Yorkshire hoping to make it three wins in a row in the National League, having beaten Woking (3-2) and Ebbsfleet United (4-0) over the last ten days.
Prior to these two wins, they went on a five-match winless run, which also saw them exit the Emirates FA Cup to Scarborough Athletic in a 4th Qualifying Round replay.
They currently sit 20th place in the Vanarama National League, a point and a place ahead of the Minstermen, having won five games and drawn five times in their opening twenty games this season in the league.
They’ve also scored 31 league goals so far this season, which is the most out of the bottom-ranked current nine teams in the bottom-half of the league.
Manager: Ross Jenkins
The 33-year-old guided Oxford City to promotion to the National League last season in his first full campaign in charge of the club having joined as manager in March 2022.
After a playing career which saw him start out at Watford, before going on to represent the likes of Crawley Town and Norwegian side Viking, he ended his career in Scotland in 2018 with Hamilton Academical.
Having managed Oxford City 88 times in league appearances, he has won 35 games and drawn 25 times during that run.
Top Scorer: Josh Parker
The experienced 32-year-old striker is now into his second season with the club, having joined last summer from Football League side Burton Albion.
He joined the club having earned a wealth of Football League experience under his belt, having turned out for the likes of Gillingham, Charlton Athletic and Wycombe Wanderers in recent years.
In his first season as an Oxford City player, he finished as the club’s top-scorer having netted 20 times in 33 appearances, and he’s carried on that goalscoring form into this season having netted 9 times in 18 National League appearances this season.
He’s also a current Antigua and Barbuda international, having made 35 appearances and scored five times for his country.
One to Watch: Zak McEachran
The 28-year-old midfielder has netted two goals in his last two games for Oxford City, helping them secure back-to-back victories in the Vanarama National League.
McEachran has been a key part for the Hoops in recent years, having helped them secure promotion to the fifth tier of English football at the back-end of last season.
Having played a key part in Oxford’s most recent victories, McEachran was recently described by his manager as a ‘real force and a really key player’ for their side.
Head-to-head
Tuesday’s game will be the first-ever meeting between the two sides.