John Aldridge’s record-breaking first full season with Oxford United won them back-to-back promotion to the first division of English football before his fame and success with Liverpool.

The striker made a name for himself in the red and white of the Anfield outfit but had been scoring goals for fun way before that.

He signed for Oxford when they were in the old Third Division, now League One, and by the time he left a few seasons later, they were sitting at the top table, playing in what is now the Premier League. What Yellows wouldn’t give for a signing like that this January?

John Aldridge averaged a goal every two games in his first season at Oxford United

Aldridge was signed by Jim Smith in April 1984 from Newport County. United paid £78,000 for the striker, as Oxford were closing in on the Third Division title. The Irish international only featured eight times in the run-in but scored four goals as United won the title and secured promotion to the Second Division. Despite his lack of game time, he was still able to average a goal every two games, to keep up the form he had been showing at Newport.

He scored 88 goals in five seasons with County, with 48 of those coming in the last two years at the club. This was the sort of goalscoring form that Smith felt he could get out of the new signing and so it came to be.

What came next for both Aldridge and Oxford United is still considered the best two seasons in the club’s history.

John Aldridge’s record-breaking season

The 1984/85 season is famous among United fans, former players, and staff. The Yellows, led by Aldridge, won the Second Division a year after winning the Third Division. Winning back-to-back promotions to the top tier is an achievement only managed by a handful of teams ever.

Aldridge scored 34 goals that season, the first time someone had scored 30 goals or more in the second tier for 19 years. Not only that, he broke the club’s goalscoring record for a single season.

The first season in the top flight

Much like Oxford’s current league objectives, when Oxford were promoted to the top division, all they wanted was to avoid relegation, despite the fact that they had won the last two leagues they were in.

With the help of Aldridge, they finished 18th and avoided relegation. Aldridge had yet another incredible season, scoring 31 goals in 54 games.

Not only that, but he was part of the famous 1986 side that won the League Cup. United beat Queens Park Rangers 3-0 to lift what was then known as the Milk Cup. QPR were managed by Smith, the manager who brought Aldridge to the club in 1983. He’d resigned from Oxford after he took the team to the first division due to a dispute over his contract.

The Oxford side of 1986 will probably go down as United’s greatest-ever team and Aldridge was a key part of that.

Leaving a legacy

Oxford have had some wonderful players during their history, with many of their legendary names having been at the club for years, some of which in two spells. Aldridge’s name is right there among the best players to ever play for the club.

He left the club a year later for Liverpool, for a fee of £750,000, almost 10 times what Oxford paid for him. He would go on to win the English First Division and FA Cup on Merseyside.

Aldridge closed the curtain on his time at Oxford with a remarkable 90 goals in 141 games, averaging a goal every 1.5 games. In particular, he had a phenomenal record in the League Cup, which he won with the U’s in 1986, scoring 14 goals in 18 games in the competition.

He left as United’s joint-highest goalscorer of all time and currently sits fourth on the all-time goalscorer’s list for the club. The players in first, second, third and fifth all have well over 100 caps more than him for the club, showing how impressive his form was.

Aldridge’s fantastic finishing was noticed by many bigger clubs. Kenny Daglish was player-manager at Liverpool at the time and clearly liked what he saw.

Liverpool had the legendary Ian Rush as their number nine for several years and the hope was that Aldridge could arrive as a potential replacement.

The two played together before Rush moved on to Juventus when Aldridge took over the mantel. He continued his scoring form from Oxford, forming part of the Liverpool team that won the 1988 First Division title and the 1989 FA Cup Final, in which he scored the opening goal.

Aldridge only played two full seasons for Liverpool but scored 63 goals in 104 games, another terrific goals-to-game ratio

This season, Oxford are playing their first season back in the second tier of English football for 25 years. Whilst they have made some impressive signings in the summer, hoping that one of them might have a similar effect to that of Aldridge all those years ago is a bit optimistic.

Aldridge broke goal-scoring records, won promotions, won Oxford their only major trophy to this day, got them to the highest point the club has ever been to, and was sold for nearly 10 times what United paid for him. All of this makes a pretty good argument that he is the best signing Oxford have ever made. All they need to do now is find another John Aldridge, easier said than done.