Are Wycombe & Oxford really rivals?

Prior to Wycombe and Oxford facing one another for the first time in over two years last Saturday, the usual debate about whether or not it was a rivalry reared its head once more. The two sides are separated by just 23 miles of motorway and subsequently the fixture has attracted the label in some quarters as the ‘M40 derby’.

A quick look on-line in and around the time of these matches often paints a similar picture. Some Wycombe fans claim that it’s a derby, while Oxford fans can be found arguing that they don’t care any more or less about Wycombe than the majority of other clubs. The Wycombe fans response to this tends to be that actually Oxford do care, they just like to pretend that they don’t. Such arguments tend to go around in circles yet as D3D4 editor and Oxford fan James Richards stated on a recent podcast, with absolute sincerity, he had never considered Wycombe a rival. In fact, he was surprised to discover that some Wycombe fans have anti-Oxford feelings running through their veins. Is it all one way or is there some kind of bubbling rivalry underneath?

The fact is that Wycombe’s historic rivalries were left behind in 1993 when Wanderers were promoted from non-league. Competitive matches against the likes of Slough Town and Aylesbury United became a thing of the past as the Chairboys had a new group of teams to play. In the first season in the football league, the closest away game was at Northampton but as time went on they came up against the likes of Reading, Watford and Oxford United. There was talk of the first two being rivals, again from the Wycombe fans, but league matches against them came and went as the Royals and The Hornets made their way back towards the top two divisions. Wycombe and Oxford first met in December 1994, and have met on a fairly regular basis since then.

Stuart Massey swings from the crossbar in 1996

Over the years there have been some good, bad and indifferent games between the two with Wycombe fans having fond memories of Stefan Oakes scoring a 90^th minute winner in the F.A. Cup in 2006 just seconds after United had equalised and Danny Hylton blazing a penalty into the Kassam Stadium car park as Wycombe won 2-1 back in 2014. Oxford fans perhaps best remember Stuart Massey swinging from the crossbar during a 3-0 win at Adams Park in 1996 and sealing promotion against Wycombe on the final day of the 2015-16 season. 24 meetings in all, 10 wins for Wycombe and 8 for Oxford, all fairly even and not much bad blood. The volume of red cards are par for the course, there are fortunately no known incidents of significant crowd trouble and no bad blood between the clubs.

And of course, Oxford’s main rivals are Swindon Town with even the Robins fans were singing ‘We hate Oxford more than you’ at Adams Park back in February. There is no doubting that. Wycombe also have an odd rivalry with Colchester United that stretches back to an unpleasant F.A. Cup tie in the 1980’s and the two sides slugging it out for promotion to the football league in 1992. The matches carried some venom for years afterwards and, although the rivalry fizzled out somewhat, there was certainly an edge to the match at Adams Park last January.

It’s hard to find a historical basis for any rivalry between the Wycombe and the U’s. In fact, it’s Oxford City, not United, whom Wycombe have played more frequently and for longer, albeit way back when in the non-league days.

Any rivalry would be based entirely on geography and to that end there may be a friendly edge for some supporters. Wycombe fans who work in Oxford and Oxford fans who work in Wycombe are perhaps keen to get bragging rights in the office on Monday morning, but such intricate match-ups cannot really filter into the mainstream fan psyche.

Just a 30 minute drive apart!

However, no fan can deny that the two clubs are close geographically. In fact, Wycombe is closer to Oxford than Swindon is. To that end, the away fans always travel well and, particularly in the fourth tier, swell the crowd and add to the atmosphere. This makes it slightly more enticing for fans and players, especially in League Two where away attendances are often minimal. To that end, you can describe Wycombe v Oxford as a local derby and a contest for local bragging rights, but to call it a rivalry is stretching the point.

Oddly, the two clubs have rarely found themselves competing for the same thing over the years. Both have had their share of promotion and relegation scraps and mid-table finishes but there are no examples of the two sides fighting for the same thing at the same time. Maybe though, that’s about to change.

The meeting last Saturday was between two teams in similar form, or lack of it, at the wrong end of the League One table. Results have been similar and while Wycombe have arguably played better, Oxford have had the tougher fixtures. The match itself was a feisty affair, with both teams showing plenty of intent to go for the points as the game wore on. Oxford undeniably had the better of it but their lack of a clinical edge will be a concern for Karl Robinson, while Ainsworth may start to think the same of Wycombe. Goals away from home don’t seem to be an issue, but in four league games at Adams Park, they have scored just twice and one of those was a penalty. Wanderers thought they had a third in the 89^th minute on Saturday when Adebayo Akinfenwa’s header nestled in the corner of the net, but an assistant’s flag ruled in out for offside. The celebrations actually went on a while before the majority realised the goal did not stand and it was only when I saw the Oxford fans cheering that it came to my attention – surely they wouldn’t be that keen to prove they didn’t hate Wycombe…

Ainsworth admitted after the match that Oxford fans perhaps don’t have the same feelings towards any rivalry that Wycombe do, but that it was an intense game befitting of a derby. It was one of the more entertaining 0-0 draws you’ll see, and from that perspective, it did nothing to create any dis-like between the clubs or their fans. Quite the opposite in some ways, as Wycombe fans sent messages of good will to Cameron Brannagan after he was carried off on a stretcher with a nasty looking injury that contributed to ten minutes of added on time at the end of the first half.

After all is said and done though, the result leaves both sides in the bottom six of the table as it slowly begins to take shape and most people now expect both teams to struggle to varying degrees. How it all turns out may create a rivalry, but it is unlikely. As a local derby though? The match at The Kassam in April could be a big one…

words Phil Slatter, D3D4 Wycombe Wanderers correspondent