The signing of Thomas John Mooney, born Billingham, from swindon was hailed as a real coup for Graham Rix. Mooney had been swindon`s second highest goalscorer the previous season, knocking in 19 goals, and had turned down their offer of a new contract. Despite interest from a number of higher division sides he joined Oxford in a move that gave great pleasure to chairman Firoz Kassam, among others. Good in the air, Mooney was a real bruiser of a centre forward, who had already endeared himself to Oxford fans before his move, by virtue of missing the penalty that sent swindon out of the play-offs. Unfortunately, he was unable to accept the reduced terms offered by Brian Talbot when his contract came up for renewal, and he moved on to Wycombe Wanderers, leaving United bereft of a natural scorer for the 2005/06 season.