Last year, the club launched its new third kit as the players walked down the tunnel to face Hull in our first away game of the season. It was a bold move, the aqua shirt with teal notes and pink accents was already an aesthetic risk, the outcome of the game would instantly give it meaning.
Two minutes after kick-off, Joe Gelhardt attacked Elliott Moore, running through to score. It tied Moore in so many knots it effectively ended his Oxford United career. We went on to concede a last-minute goal, condemning us to a second consecutive defeat. We wouldn’t wear the shirt again for four months and in the five games we played in it, we picked up just one point. A year on and Hull are in the Premier League beating Manchester United while we were heading for Stevenage in the third tier. For all its visual appeal, the shirt was forever tainted.
This year’s new third shirt was launched 24 hours before our trip to Stevenage, a fine looking kit that looks like something kit Nik Prelec would wear in the Polish Ekstraklasa. Can a shirt bring bad luck? Hocus pocus. Nonsense. Eight minutes into its debut, Jamie Cumming hobbled off to be replaced by Simon Eastwood for his first game in over two years. Hmm.
A trip to Stevenage is a stark reminder we’ve returned to the lower leagues. Until now, with trips to Huddersfield and Leicester to come, it’s perhaps been easy to convince ourselves we’re in the Championship-lite. There will be times when it feels like that, but visiting Stevenage is like being put in the thickos class for maths at school and only later realising it’s because you’re one of the thickos.
While we’ve been distracted by Stan Mills and Brian De Keersmaecker, Eastwood’s introduction tore a hole in the tissue paper thin veneer of our squad. Unlike Eastwood’s deputising of Cumming, we’re not replacing Mills and De Keersmaecker with Liam Sercombe or Alex MacDonald. Eastwood’s last league start was against Reading in February 2024; he hasn’t played regularly since the end of 2022/23 season. It’s hard not to love him, but at 37, he’s spent the last couple of years as one of the good blokes to have around, a mentor to others, a vibes-merchant and briefly, an ice-cream magnate.
Expecting a physical and aerial battle, Aaron Ramsey selected a team that focussed on strength and commitment. Peter Kioso imbibes a warrior spirit; Michael Helik could dominate in any aerial assault while Louis Sibley sacrificed some of Tyler Goorham’s craft for a bit more bite in midfield.
As with last week, establishing early control seemed to be key, it’s not likely to be pretty, and it sets up a platform. And, as with last week, the game pivoted on Ramsey’s substitutions, giving us an additional gear to exploit a Stevenage side who are highly effective in the one-dimension they have at their disposal.
He may simply be a lucky general, but this is impressive stuff, Ramsey may not have a wealth of options on the bench, but game planning within the constraints he has is giving the illusion that we have dimensions.
Although the return of Stan Mills was the headline grabber, the revitalisation of Gatlin O’Donkor is quietly becoming the story of the season. Like Eastwood, O’Donkor’s Oxford career seemed to have run its course, he was like a garden tool you once bought for a specific job but have since left rusting in the shed. It was hard to know what future he had; loan spells had been average at best, last season he didn’t even have that.
While he’s transformed physically from the spindly schoolboy of his debut in 2020, he seemed to lack the aggression you need to be truly effective. Like Mark Harris’ nonchalance in front of goal, O’Donkor aggression just didn’t seem to part of his make-up. Preferring to focus on technique, Oxford isn’t a club that traditionally develops the kind of direct, menacing beasts who dominate defenders, O’Donkor has had to find that in himself. Two minutes after his introduction, Mills crafted a cross into the box and O’Donkor threw himself beyond the marker, claiming the space in a crowded box for his own to head home the opening goal.
His reaction felt different somehow, like he was part of the squad, maybe even a key member, no longer someone on the margins looking in. Maybe the lack of bodies gives him a bit more space to breathe. Before the season started, some fretted that we only had O’Donkor as back up to Harris. Perhaps we need to drop the ‘only’.
A quick note on Mills, it was always going to be a difficult day for him. Ostracised in some quarters, knowing how to approach his reintroduction was difficult. Doing it away from home and from the bench made sense. His reaction to O’Donkor’s goal was muted, but it would have been hard for him to grab his badge and unleash a primordial scream given that we all know he has ambitions elsewhere. The cross to O’Donkor will have helped a lot and it should be possible for him to contribute to the success of the club while he’s here and want to develop his career elsewhere. It’s exactly what loan players do. If everyone is sensible about it, these things can co-exist.
With five minutes to go, O’Donkor was on his way again, latching onto Emkahu’s through ball. Again, he was positive and aggressive and, with the ball going slightly wide, he had the smarts to wait for contact from the keeper who had no option but to bring him down. He looks a different player, let’s hope he builds on it.
Brannagan sealed the win from the penalty, only for them to pull one back and create a brief flutter of angst. All things considered, and bringing pre-season into the equation, it’s been a good start for Aaron Ramsey. Around this time, when the narratives are still being formed, Ramsey would be perfect for the national newspapers to seek out and profile. In fact, he and we are still bedding in, accepting our situation and dealing with it; a quiet revival of O’Donkor, Eastwood, Kioso and others could be the real narrative we need.
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This issue features the results of the Oxblogger Survey 2026 with ratings and predictions, we also have some commentary on our tempestuous summer and an insider view on what it takes to choose a new kit for the season.