WITH Oxford United riding high in the Blue Square Premier League this season, a reader thought that we needed reminding of past glories.

The 1953-4 season was particularly successful for the club, then called Headington United and playing in the Southern League.

The team had reached the fourth round of the FA Cup by beating Football League opposition in the shape of Millwall and Stockport County, and were preparing to take on the might of First Division Bolton Wanderers.

The Oxford Mail’s Alan Course summed up the atmosphere at the Manor with this topical cartoon, sent in by our reader.

Fans were being asked not only to cheer their team on, but also to help complete the ground’s Beech Road stand in time for the big match.

Headington lost to Bolton, but their great cup run that season attracted great interest and contributed to their eventual success in being elected to the Football League.