Talented young footballers are being offered a new route into senior football at Oxford City with the creation of their new football and futsal academy.

Based at the club’s 3G Community Arena and new 30,000-square foot Indoor Arena at Berinsfield, City’s general manager Justin Merritt hopes the scheme will offer students not only educational qualifications, but also a route into the first team in Vanarama National League South.

“We’re trying to recruit the best youngsters to try and push the club forward and actually get players into the first team and beyond,” he said.

“With our 3G facility, it’s a great opportunity for the city of Oxford and we want to maximise those opportunities by creating a professional development academy.

“Also, we want to offer a chance to players like (City striker) Conor McDonagh, who didn’t quite make it at Oxford United, to create a platform for them.”


Building on the existing link with the City of Oxford College, Merritt believes the new set-up will enable the club to take a more active role in developing future talent.

Since the arrival of Merritt and coach Enrique Guillen in 2014, City have notably recruited a large number of players from Spain, but the aim now is to produce their own talent locally.

“We’re trying to nurture local talent and also hopefully drive the club forward as well,” said Merritt.

“A lot of these players are talented, but they don’t quite get their chance elsewhere and they end up dropping down to the lower levels.

“It only takes one or two of those to make it and get sold for us to reap the rewards.”

With links to other clubs in Spain and local universities, City want to emulate the programmes at professional clubs.

“That’s the aim, to create a really professional set-up, where they become students of the game,” Merritt said.

“We’re using the latest software to analyse matches and we want the young players learning through sports science and sports coaching to bring their game forward.”

Academy manager Mark Jones added: “We aim to produce players able to cope with the technical, tactical, physical and psychological demands of the modern game.

“Our aim is to provide a high-class football experience, underpinned by a quality education.”