Manor Ground
Encyclopedia
The Manor Ground was a football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
stadium in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, that was the home of Oxford United
Oxford United F.C.
Oxford United Football Club is an English association football club based in Oxford, Oxfordshire. The club play in League Two, following promotion from the Conference National in May 2010. The club had been a non-League side since their relegation from the Football League in the 2005–06 season. The...
(previously known as Headington
Headington
Headington is a suburb of Oxford, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames Valley below. The life of the large residential area is centred upon London Road, the main road between London and Oxford.-History:...
United) between 1925 and 2001. It hosted United's record crowd of 22,750 against Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...
in an FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
6th Round match on February 29, 1964.
The main seating stand was to the Beech Road stand (on the west), the 'home' terracing was the London Road stand (south), the 'away' terracing was Cuckoo Lane (north) and on the fourth side was the Osler Road stand (east). In 1966, with the demolition of Sandfield College, a new entrance to the ground was created onto London Road.
With the advent of the 1990s and the Taylor Report
Taylor Report
The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report, better known as the Taylor Report is a document, whose development was overseen by Lord Taylor of Gosforth, concerning the aftermath and causes of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. An interim report was published in August 1989, and the final...
, the Manor Ground's terracing
Terrace (stadium)
A terrace or terracing in sporting terms refers to the traditional standing area of a sports stadium, particularly in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
was rapidly becoming antiquated, and it gained a reputation amongst fans for being one of the more dilapidated stadiums in Britain. Redeveloping the ground was too costly so the club decided to move to the purpose-built all-seater stadium
Kassam Stadium
The Kassam Stadium is the home of Oxford United Football Club, and is named after the ground's owner, and former chairman of the club, Firoz Kassam....
on the outskirts of the city. Construction work began in the early part of 1997, but was suspended later that year due to the club's financial problems.
Construction of the new stadium resumed in 1999 following a takeover deal and Oxford moved there in 2001. The last league match at the Manor on 1 May 2001 saw a 1-1 draw with Port Vale
Port Vale F.C.
Port Vale Football Club is an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire — one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as...
, Andy Scott opened the scoring after 82 minutes as the Us looked set for a final home victory; but a minute from the end Tony Naylor dampened the party with an equaliser. Oxford's final season at the Manor Ground was one of the worst in their history. They finished bottom of Division Two
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
with a mere 27 points and were relegated to Division Three
Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...
- their lowest standing in 35 years.
The stadium was later demolished and is now the site of a private hospital
Acland Hospital
The Acland Hospital was a private nursing home and hospital in central North Oxford, England, located in a prominent position at the southern end of the Banbury Road.-1878-1903:It was founded in memory of Sarah Acland The Acland Hospital (also previously known as the Acland Nursing Home, Acland...
.