FA Cup Magic

Friday 6th November - Oxford City were hosting Leicester City under the floodlights on a bracingly chilly evening.

There was absolutely no need for any more pictures of the M Group Stadium on the blog.
Until, that is, the first round proper of the FA Cup saw Oxford City draw Leicester City (I think there's a rule I need to preface this with "former Premier League winners..." or "2021 FA Cup winners...").
Leicester's visit had been called, in various places, the biggest game in the Oxford club's history and was set to draw a record breaking crowd of over 3,400 folks.  So I think it's an evening that warrants a mention here.

I opted to walk from the city centre to the ground, picking a couple of spots on the way for refreshment breaks.  Starting at The Star on Rectory Road.

The Star (21 Rectory Rd, Oxford OX4 1BU)
In my humble opinion, this is currently the best pub east of the city centre... Moondog pizza, good keg, two, possibly three, well-kept cask ales, a fine garden and always a good crowd in.
Not so many as usual, though.
"Everyone's going to the football, aren't they?" reckoned.  Everyone?
"Who are City anyway?  They're like Abingdon United, aren't they?"
No disrespect to Abingdon United (they let me paint their picnic benches once) but no!  That's a different level of non-league.

 

The Augustiner is always tempting in the Star since the big authentic Munich beer tap arrived, but I stuck with the cask and a pint of Beak 'Bampa Best Bitter' (Loose Cannon's spooky seasonal 'Franken-Stein' the alternative).
The Bampa was a smooth, caramelly bitter that disappeared from the glass super-fast. 

A quick hop around the corner onto St Clement's took me to the Port Mahon.

The Port Mahon (82 St Clement's St, Oxford OX4 1AW)
This is a pub that has had good, if not great, spells since I've been in Oxford.  They once served a cracking Sunday dinner in front of the footy on telly; you once used to be able to hand over a fiver to watch local bands in the upstairs room.  But the venue is gone and the pub styles itself as a gastro now, pushing Rotisserie Mondays and £5 happy hour Negroni's rather than Sky Sports and noisy music.
Still, the cask is usually decent, provided it's on.  Two Hook Norton ales on this occasion: 'Old Hooky' or the autumnal 'Flagship' with home-made clip.

'Flagship' in a dimpled mug - £5.90 for the pint, despite it being Mon-Fri 4-6pm Happy Hour.  I should have had the Negroni and saved 90p.

With kick-off time drawing nearer, it was time to move on...trudging up the road with fireworks lighting up the sky, the Up In Arms tempting me in with it's bright lights, pizza smells wafting from the kitchen, the sounds of cheery conversation and eighties prog rock. 

This bit of town is woefully under-pubbed.  The Up In Arms is the sole place to get a beer on the mile-long Marston Road.  So no surprise that it was busy, the front section full of Leicester fans, none of whom looked like 'Owner of a Lonely Heart' would be their pick for Friday evening background music.
The Dodo 'APA' wouldn't be my pick for Friday evening beer (especially at £6.70), but the cask ale pump clips were turned around, so a cold, dull APA is what I ended up with.

A final 15-minute walk took me to the ground, the first upgrade I spotted being the 'Away Fans' signage.
Here's the old the A4 printer design from 2025... 

And here's what FA Cup money buys you...

Through the turnstiles, the place was unrecognisable - not just because of the extra 2,500 people milling around.
The flat concrete in front of the clubhouse had acquired a temporary seating stand since the cup draw was made.

Behind that stand the bar was doing a roaring trade...

Through the back door of the clubhouse, the car park was half taken up by TV vans sporting satellite dishes, the other half turned into a fan zone with food and drink and a DJ.
I queued for a pint of 'Icebreaker' in a plastic pot, missing Robbie Savage conducting the TNT Sports pre-match interviews on the pitch.
"We can go and shout at him if we get served fast enough," said the chap behind me in the queue.

Naturally, I wouldn't complain about a cup upset, but realistically all I wanted was:
1. No rain.
2. An Oxford goal to celebrate.
3. Not allowing the Foxes to run away with it and look like Como.

From my vantage (well, sort of) point at the Shed End, Leicester didn't look like Como, but they did look like a team from three divisions above, with all the action at the end they were attacking.  Their goal on 16-minutes came as a disappointment but not a surprise.

Gradually, the Hoops began bringing the ball down our end and troubling the defenders.  Just after the half hour mark Scott Pollack swung a corner straight into the top of the net to level the score.  Pandemonium ensued in a stand where we're used to polite clapping.

My pint of Cruzcampo in a pop-up bar at half time was a mistake.
As was pre-emptive talk about extra time and penalties - things didn't stay level for long in the second half with Leicester going two ahead by the 59th minute.
Josh Ashby narrowed the deficit and gave us an excuse to jump around a second time, before Leicester came out eventual 4-2 winners.

Top marks to the Oxford City players who did the club proud.
And to the staff who oversaw a procession of deliveries of new stands, portaloos, beer supplies and souvenir t-shirts, and who've obviously been working their socks off to prepare for such a big match.
Turns out we're not going to Wembley, but what a great evening.