League One's great entertainers Oxford echo 1980s glory days in promotion push

Take a glance at the top half of the League One table at the moment and you will be struck by the sheer amount of former Premier League clubs in there.

Half-a-dozen in fact: Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich, Bolton, Wigan and Portsmouth.

There are also a fair share of clubs with recent Championship experience, such as Rotherham, MK Dons, Wycombe and Plymouth.

But one team in that cluster of clubs chasing promotion stands out: Oxford United.

It is a club that cherishes its history. Their halcyon days were the 1980s, winning the League Cup in 1986 off the back of two successive promotions up into the top tier.

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But that history, as proud as it is, has been threatening to fade more and more into the background.

Since their demotion from the top flight in 1988 four more relegations followed. A spell in the outback of the National League saw them spend four years off-grid.

Since their return to the EFL in 2010, it has been steady if not spectacular progress for the U's. They spent six years in League Two, only finishing outside the top half in one of those seasons.

They are currently in their sixth consecutive season in League One and after play-off near-misses in each of the past two campaigns there is genuine hope among the Oxford fanbase that it can be third time lucky this year.

Mirror Sport's Keith Webster, a lifelong Oxford fan, says the club feels like it finally threatening to make a return to the second tier for what would be the first time since 1999.

"I think it is easy to get lost in among the big names in League One at the moment," he said.

"Especially considering you have the likes of Ipswich, Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday, Portsmouth, Bolton in there.

"We're definitely a club that could be going places and their ambition for probably four years now has been to be a Championship team.

"Karl Robinson has won over the supporters with a really attractive style of football."

Indeed, that entertaining style has resulted in Oxford being the second-highest top scorers in the EFL (behind only Fulham ) with 71 so far.

And unlike some of their promotion rivals, they are not simply reliant on one player. Yes, Matty Taylor has 20 so far but goals are shared about this team with four players on seven or more.

Robinson, who later this month celebrates his fourth anniversary as manager, has won promotion from this division before with MK Dons and there is a similar long-term project feel to his current job.

If his side are to go up this season - and it is likely to have to be through the play-offs given their deficit to the top two spots - then they are going to do it by continuing their attack-minded style of play.

His side's last three games have seen 16 goals produced.

"We're entertainers," Robinson recently stated. "We like entertaining, part of the reason why our attendances are so big is because we're good to watch and the probability is there's going to be goals.

"Every manager who comes to play Oxford United away knows we play quite free-spirited, but vulnerable at times because of that.

"Teams do get promoted with 1-0s and 2-0s, but they also get an awful lot of luck. Some years it works for you, some years against you."

Despite those years in the wilderness, Oxford fans are still mightily ambitious - and are clearly hungry to make up for lost time higher up the footballing food chain.

Webster added: "I think the issue with Oxford is that they are getting to a now or never point. Fans feel it really is time to make it happen, having watched the likes of Wycombe, Blackpool and Luton go up.

"I think most fans would gladly settle for being established in the Championship - at least for now."