The Oxford United Football Club store in the Covered Market will close at the end of this month.

The popular Covered Market shop has been open for two and a half years. However, a recent change of leaseholder for the premises has led to the club being served notice to vacate the unit.

Lee Barton, head of retail and ticketing for Oxford United said: “It was a surprise to receive the notice to vacate. As many fans know, our shop was around a third of the Market Barbers off Avenue 2. The new owners want to use the whole unit, which we completely understand. We move on, wishing The Market Barbers all the best for the future.

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“These are very challenging times in retail, with purchasing habits ever changing. We hold our hands up and admit that the Covered Market unit had probably not been as commercially successful as we’d hoped. Many of our fans will know the city centre has gone through something of a transformation over the past few years which has coincided with our time in the Covered Market. The size and location of our premises proved more challenging than we’d initially expected.”

Oxford United Football Club have said they will continue to look for alternative units in the city centre as well as explore new initiatives to increase retail revenue.

The last days of trade for the Covered Market store will be the week beginning March 16.