When Lee Michael Bradbury joined Oxford in Summer 2004, the Cowes-born midfielder became possibly the most expensive player ever to have joined the club, costing Manchester City £3 million when they bought him from Portsmouth in July 1997. He is yet another player who knew Graham Rix from his Pompey days, although he has played for a number of other clubs, mainly on loan. Most recently he was at Walsall, who were unable to afford to renew his contract after their relegation at the end of the 2003/04 season.

Bradders started his time at United playing up front, but he never really excelled in that position. It was only after the arrival of Argentine manager Ramon Diaz, who dropped Bradbury back into the midfield, that he began to demonstrate the ability that his reputation claimed for him. It was while playing in this role that he chalked up several Rage Online Man of the Match performances, which eventually led to him becoming the Rage Online Readers Player of the Season for 2004/05.

However, Bradbury insisted to new manager Brian Talbot that he wanted to return to playing up front, a decision that cost him the club captaincy as Talbot believed that the captain should be either a central midfielder or a defender. Bradbury played his last game for the club prematurely, because of a clause in his contract that stated he would be granted an automatic one-year extension after playing a certain number of games, a clause that Firoz Kassam clearly wanted not to be invoked. He moved to Southend, where he gained promotion to the second division. 3 England Under-21 caps.