Tickets on themselves
Oxford United today announced season ticket prices for next season. Good news: prices have been frozen for a second successive season; bad news: United's first home cup game is no longer included in the package, so prices have gone up by over 4% in real terms. Good news: season tickets can again be bought with credit and debit cards; bad news: the North Stand is closed to season ticket holders. Good news: season ticket holders will be eligible for certain discounts when the Ozone (Firoz Kassam's new leisure development next to the ground) opens; bad news: matchday prices for almost all tickets are going up.
Murray out
Oxford Mail sports reporter Jon Murray has been banned from the Kassam Stadium by Firoz Kassam. This move is the latest in the saga surrounding Dave Savage's alleged comments to the newspaper about the lack of talks to renew his contract. The club's view, understandably, is that Murray and the Mail were shit-stirring. The Mail's view is that this is ridiculous and they were just reporting the news. What is unclear is where this leaves the sponsorship deal for the East Stand, which has had two years of the five that were agreed with the Mail. It is also unclear what will happen vis-รก-vis the Oxford Mail reporting on United and next season's matches: will they not bother at all, or will the match reports suddenly start being accurate?
Read the Rage Online take on this news on the Rage Online Comment page.