BREAKING NEWS: Jaime Gotch and Leah Burridge among five to leave Oxford United Women
OXFORD United Women have announced that five first team players will leave the club when their contracts expire this summer.
Long-serving goalkeeper Paris Sercombe, centre backs Zoe Creaney and Jaime Gotch, versatile player Taome Oliver and captain Leah Burridge will all depart the club after their deals expire.
READ ALSO: Young duo sign new deals with United
The U’s posted online: “We would like to express our gratitude for the dedication they have shown to the club and for their invaluable contributions over the years.
“A special thank you to Paris Sercombe, who has been part of the Oxford United family for over a decade.
“We are incredibly grateful for everything she has given to Oxford United Women over the years and wish her all the very best for what comes next.”
The Long Read: M4 Corridors of Power
In 1983, the owner of Oxford United tried to force through a merger with their local rivals Reading, but the supporters protested and the illegality of what was going on was discovered.
No matter how many ways you look at it, there remains something mildly surprising about the fact that Reading Football Club was founded in 1871. We ordinarily associate the oldest professional football clubs with big cities such as Sheffield and Nottingham, but Reading were right there at the very beginning, founded in the same year that the first FA Cup matches were played.
They’re one of the oldest senior clubs in the South of England and they first competed in the FA Cup themselves in the 1877-78 season. Neither of the teams they played that year, South Norwood or Upton Park, exist anymore. They went on to become a founder member of the Southern League in 1894 and won its Second Division title before joining the mass exodus to the newly formed Third Division South in 1920.
The 1920s were kind to Reading. In 1926, they won the Third Division South Championship and the following season they reached the FA Cup semi-finals, a run which took in beating Manchester United after two replays in the Third Round, before losing to Cardiff City at Molineux.
On the whole, though, the club failed to adjust to life in the Second Division and were relegated back in 1931. They wouldn’t play outside the Third Division again until 1971 when they dropped into the Fourth Division and the club spent the remainder of the decade bouncing between the Third and Fourth Divisions.
Meanwhile, Oxford United’s origins and history were no less prosaic. Headington United were founded in 1893, but only played local league football until they decided to turn professional and joined the Southern League in 1949. They won the Southern League title in 1953, were runners-up the following year, and again in 1960.
That summer, the club changed its name to Oxford United and won the Southern League title in both 1961 and 1962. And when the end of that season came about, they applied for a place in the Football League to take the space created by the resignation of Accrington Stanley earlier that year.
