While there is still precious little actual news to report concerning Oxford United since the end of the season, there are still one or two snippets worth a passing comment. Possibly of most significance is the cancellation of the proposed friendly against Queens Park Rangers, originally scheduled for Saturday 19 July. Apparently the game had to be called off because the Stadium Company had agreed to host a wedding reception on that date, and a work-around couldn't be agreed. To be fair to the club, the announcement of the friendly was actually made by QPR and the Oxford Mail, and not United, but it seems odd that a significant date in the close season (a Saturday afternoon just three weeks before the start of the new season) hadn't been set aside in advance by United, in agreement with their landlord. It also seems strange that the prime tenant of the site shouldn't have first dibs on the use of the site, and the StadCo should have consulted with United first, before agreeing to host an alternative event. A cynic might come to the conclusion that the stadium's owner, Firoz Kassam, is turning the screw on the football club's owners in a bid to hasten the stadium-purchase process.

In news of former players, Courtney Pitt has sadly been released by Cambridge United, meaning that the other Us might be prepared to mount another promotion challenge next season. The same cannot be said of Crawley, who have signed Simon Weatherstone, recently released by Weymouth. Crawley's manager Steve Evans has bought a number of players since the end of the season, and despite our concerns that the club might be getting perilously close to their playing-budget limit, we are at least reassured that they are not attempting to mount any sort of challenge.

Rage Online can now, somewhat belatedly, announce its end-of-season awards, as voted for throughout the season by you, our loyal readers (well, some of you anyway). There is a bizarre twist here, in that the same player has won both the Player of the Season award and the Weakest Link of the Season award. In a development symptomatic of his topsy-turvy season, Yemi Odubade won both awards. He shares the Player of the Season award with Adam Murray, who did exceedingly well considering he only arrived at the club in January. The runner-up in the PoS award was Luke Foster, while surprisingly Rob Duffy came next, followed by Billy Turley. Less surprising was that Alex Jeannin came second in the Weakest Link award, followed by Eddie Anaclet, with Matt Day and Marvin Robinson in joint fourth place. We will pass no judgement.