As you know, we have made the difficult decision to part company with Des Buckingham as Head Coach, a decision that I understand will not be popular with everyone.
Des was not only an integral part of one of the best days in the Club’s history, he also holds deep ties to Oxford United and the city. We did not hire Des due to his Oxford connections, but fully understand how us parting ways impacts you as supporters.
I want to start by expressing my thanks to Des for everything he did for us. Des played an important role in the Club’s success as we reached the Championship for the first time in 25 years – an achievement which will live long in the memory, especially for the unforgettable day at Wembley. In just over a year as Head Coach, he took us a step closer to realising our overall ambition as a Football Club.
Since my appointment as Chairman in the summer of 2022, the Board, Tim Williams and I have been very clear about our ambition: to establish Oxford United as a stable and sustainable Championship club. Whilst we are now in the Championship, we acknowledge that there is still much work to be done. We will forever be grateful to Des for helping us reach this point, but we believe that in order to protect the best interests of the Club, this decision needed to be taken.
Our primary goal remains to secure our place in the Championship – not just for this season, but for the future. Although our expectations are realistic, we firmly believe that our current position and recent form are not reflective of the potential this squad holds. Many factors are taken into consideration with decisions like these but, ultimately, results are the defining one. Given performances over a number of months, and following the recent defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, we as the Board agreed that a change had to be made now.
Taking this course of action at this point in the season will ensure the new Head Coach has the best opportunity possible to work with the team and be involved in the upcoming January transfer window.
We are committed to appointing the right person as our next Head Coach and aim to do so in the very near future. We understand that you will want to know more details, and we will update you as soon as we are in a position to do so.
We have a fantastic, experienced coaching team already in place, but as we did with Des, the new Head Coach will be given the opportunity to add to their backroom staff in due course.
Looking ahead to January, we are working hard to ensure that we continue to strengthen the squad when the transfer window opens. Even though we do not have the largest budget in the league, the Board have committed significant resources to developing and building a competitive squad which was shown with our recruitment in the summer. There is budget in January for our new Head Coach and the Recruitment department, where we have also appointed Scott Mitchell as Head of Recruitment in recent weeks to work alongside Head of Football Operations, Ed Waldron.
We are focused on putting the foundations in place for the future of the Club, and we believe the appointment of a new Head Coach will strengthen us on the pitch, whilst the CEO and the wider Club strive to make improvements off it. We continue to invest in our infrastructure as we work towards our goal of becoming the stable Championship Club we want to be. A big part of this is the new stadium project and remaining in this league is vital to the long-term success of the Club as a whole.
I recognise there may be feelings of disappointment and frustration, but we hope that you will understand we have taken this decision in what we believe to be the best interests of the Club.
We have a crucial period ahead of us, with important games to come, and we need to remain united as a Club. Your support has been exceptional this season and I have seen first-hand the impact that it has both at home and away – thank you!
Kind Regards,
Grant