New Season New Opponents: Oxford United

The U's return to League One after spending the last two seasons in the Championship, and they'll be looking to bounce straight back up to the second tier at the first time of asking.

With both clubs expected to challenge near the top of the table, next season could signal the start of an intriguing new chapter in the local rivalry.

Oxford ended last season in 22nd place in the Championship table on 47 points, four adrift of safety.

Unfortunately, a dismal start to the season under Gary Rowett saw the U's win just four of their opening 22 league matches, a situation they were unable to recover from.

Chairboys legend and former boss Matt Bloomfield replaced Rowett in the dugout at the Kassam Stadium in January 2026, winning six of his 22 games in charge.

Even after Leicester City and West Brom were docked points, Oxford were still unable to lift themselves out of the bottom three come matchweek 46, despite a slight revival under Bloomfield.

United had a clear talisman in their ranks, with Tottenham loanee Will Lankshear ending the season as top scorer, netting 12 goals in 47 appearances across all competitions.

Few figures are more familiar to Wycombe supporters than Bloomfield, who took charge of Oxford in January after his dismissal by Luton Town.

Of course, the man formerly dubbed 'Mr Wycombe' needs no introduction to the Chairboys faithful, having enjoyed a 19-year playing career with the club and just under two years in the dugout.

Oxford is Bloomfield's second job since leaving his post at Wycombe in the middle of the 2024-25 season, with his side sat firmly in the automatic promotion picture.

He did so to join relegation-threatened Luton in the Championship, where he instilled some hope of keeping the Hatters up until a final-day thumping at West Brom condemned the Bedfordshire side to back-to-back relegations.

Bloomfield kept his job at Kenilworth Road despite the relegation but was eventually dismissed by the club in early October 2025 after a poor run of results.

Three months later, the 42-year-old was back in the dugout, this time with Oxford, as he looked to achieve what he couldn't at Luton and keep the U's in the Championship.

Despite improving results after his arrival, Bloomfield was unable to preserve Oxford's Championship status, meaning the former Wycombe boss heads into 2026/27 looking to lead the U's straight back to the second tier.

Wanderers could also be set to renew acquaintances with their former head coach Mike Dodds when Oxford come to town, who now works under Bloomfield at the Kassam Stadium.

Plenty of players have represented both Oxford and Wycombe throughout their careers, with the most recent example being Luke Harris.

The Welshman was on loan with the U's in the first half of 2025-26 before making the short hop down the M40 to join the Chairboys for the second half of the campaign.

Former Wanderers left-back Jordan Obita signed for the then-Championship Blues from Oxford in January 2021, completing the Thames Valley trifecta, having previously played for Reading as well.

Wycombe Academy graduate Matt Phillips has also donned both the light and dark blue quarters and the yellow, starting his senior career with the Buckinghamshire outfit in 2008 before heading to Oxfordshire in 2024.

Matt Ingram is the sole player currently at either club to have played for both Wycombe and Oxford, having also risen through the academy in HP12 and joined the U's in 2024.

Other notable players to have represented both clubs include John Mousinho, Paul McCarthy, Tommy Mooney, and Michael Dubbery.

There have been 35 competitive meetings between Oxford and Wycombe, with the U's winning 10, Wanderers 14, and 11 ending level.

The first-ever game between the two clubs came back in December 1994 in a Second Division (League One) clash, where Martin O'Neill's Blues ousted the Yellows 2-0 on their own turf.

The last time the two teams faced off was a rather dull affair on the pitch, with a scoreless draw played out in HP12 back in February 2024.

The football, however, wasn't the most important thing that day, as Wycombe paid tribute to young supporter Adam Ankers by renaming their stadium Adam's Park for the day.

Both fixtures in the 2023/24 season ended honours even, as a stoppage-time penalty from Cameron Brannagan denied the Chairboys all three points at the Kassam Stadium after Luke Leahy netted twice from the spot.

Undoubtedly, the most notable encounter came under the Wembley arch in 2020, as the local rivals locked horns to contest a place in the Championship.

We all know what happened that night in the capital, as a Joe Jacobson penalty 15 minutes from time saw Gareth Ainsworth's men ascend to the second tier of English football for the first time in the club's history.

With Bloomfield now in the opposite dugout, Oxford expected to challenge for promotion, and recent history between the clubs providing plenty of intrigue, the meetings between the U's and Wanderers could be among the most significant fixtures in League One next season.