July 4 2014: Darryl Eales becomes chairman of Oxford United. An official club statement confirms Eales and Mark Ashton’s takeover, with the two men instated as chairman and chief executive respectively. Head coach Gary Waddock is sacked and replaced by Michael Appleton. Outgoing chairman Ian Lenagan takes board responsibility for the stadium development project.
August 23 2014: A 1-0 home defeat to Portsmouth leaves the U’s rock bottom of the football league after four defeats from their opening four league games.
January 31 2015: United sign Alex MacDonald for an undisclosed amount from League Two promotion-chasers Burton Albion, showing a new willingness to splash the cash.
February 11 2015: Sky Sports presenter and David Jones is installed as non-executive director to the club’s board. The Saturday Night Football host is a friend of Eales and both publicly back under-fire head coach Appleton.
February 14 2015: A 2-0 defeat to Burton Albion leaves United just four points above the relegation zone.
May 2 2015: United win 1-0 at Newport County to complete an eight-match unbeaten run at the end of the season. The club finish the campaign 13th in League Two.
July 12-17 2015: Supporters and players mix in a memorable pre-season tour to Austria. After a winning end to the previous campaign and exciting summer signings including Kemar Roofe and Liam Sercombe, the tour symbolises a club heading in the right direction.
October 6 2015: Kemar Roofe’s double in a 2-0 victory over rivals Swindon Town in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy caps an encouraging start to the season for United.
December 21 2015: Eales gives up some of his other business interests to take a new title as executive chairman. As a result, Ashton leaves his role as chief executive after 18 months.
January 31 2016: United complete a successful January transfer window. Chris Maguire and Jordan Bowery sign on free transfers and both players make crucial contributions in the remaining months of the season. The club hold on to their star names, with Eales saying: “If someone comes in for Kemar Roofe and says ‘here’s a million quid’ I think my instinctive response would be ‘I don’t want to sell him’.”
February 2 2016: The U’s reach Wembley for the first time since 2010. A 1-0 home defeat to Millwall in their Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Area Final second leg sees United through, thanks to a 2-0 success at the New Den in January. Barnsley await in the final.
March 17 2016: Greig Box Turnbull is appointed as United’s new managing director. The former Daily Mirror journalist joins the board and is made responsible for day-to-day running of the club’s business operations.
April 3 2016: 35,000 yellows march to the arch for the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final date with Barnsley. Callum O’Dowda opens the scoring but Michael Appleton’s side lose 3-2, with Danny Hylton scoring a late consolation.
April 30 2016: With the U’s needing to win both season’s final two games to guarantee promotion, Eales rewards supporters making the 544-mile round trip to Carlisle with a free beer and hot dog. Almost 2,300 supporters travel to Cumbria to watch United edge closer to promotion with a 2-0 victory.
May 7 2016: United reach League One with a 3-0 victory over Wycombe Wanderers on the final day of the season. They return to the third tier for the first time since 2001.
June 6 2016: Eales buys Ian Lenagan’s remaining shares after Lenagan’s appointment as chairman of the Football League. The move ends Lenagan’s ten-year association with the club.
July 7 2016: United receive a club-record fee of almost £3m for Kemar Roofe as the forward joins Leeds United. Days later, local boy Callum O’Dowda signs for Bristol City in a deal that could rise to £1.6m.
August 20 2016: A stoppage-time Chris Maguire penalty clinches a 2-1 win over Peterborough – United’s first victory in the third tier since April 2001.
October 7-11 2016: Kassam Stadium landlord Firoz Kassam reveals to the Oxford Mail that he has entered talks with supporters trust OxVox about selling the ground into community ownership. Eales discloses he has attempted to buy the stadium on three separate occasions. Four days later it emerges that United’s request to build a temporary fourth stand was blocked due to claims that the club owed money to Kassam’s company Firoka.
December 10 2016: Eales questions his commitment to United after a dispute between the club’s Ultras and stewards over flags in the East Stand fails to resolve itself quickly.
January 16 2017: United’s board of directors say they may have to lower their ambitions after the slow progress of talks relating to the Kassam Stadium’s ownership.
January 31 2017: The U’s strengthen their striking options as Conor McAleny signs on loan from Everton, following Toni Martinez’s temporary switch from West Ham. Ryan Taylor and Alex MacDonald leave the club.
March 15 2017: It is announced that Greig Box Turnbull will leave his role as Oxford United’s managing director at the end of the season.
March 23 2017: The Oxford Mail exclusively reveals two foreign groups are interested in taking over United. One bid is led by Uruguayan businessman Juan Sartori, with OxVox confirming they have spoken to Sartori and Eales regarding the takeover.
- Juan Sartori Picture: YouTube
April 2 2017: The U’s falter at Wembley for the second time in 12 months, going down 2-1 to Coventry City in the Checkatrade Trophy Final. Eales calls it a “missed opportunity”.
April 30 2017: A 2-0 victory over Shrewsbury ensures United finish eighth in their first season back in League One, just four points off the play-offs.
May 10 2017: Eales confirms that Sartori has made a firm offer to buy United, with the Uruguayan set to meet Firoz Kassam in Monaco. Speculation persists that a deal to buy the club could be completed within weeks.
June 7 2017: Eales confirms he has rejected Sartori’s approach, explaining it is “the right thing for Oxford United Football Club”.
June 20 2017: Michael Appleton leaves Oxford United after almost three years as Head Coach. The 41-year-old joins 2016 Premier League champions Leicester City as assistant manager.
July 1 2017: Eales’ search for a new manager ends as Pep Clotet is confirmed as United’s new boss.
August 9 2017: Eales says it would take an “unbelievable” offer for the U’s to sell Marvin Johnson after rumours linking the winger with Hull City.
August 26 2017: The first rumours of a potential new owner emerge after Thai businessman Sumrith Thanakarnjanasuth is pictured in the director’s box at United’s 1-1 draw with Shrewsbury.
August 31 2017: Marvin Johnson joins Middlesbrough for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of £2.5-3m. The deal completes a frenetic summer of transfer activity, with players from nine different nationalities arriving at the Kassam Stadium.
September 30 2017: Speculation intensifies as Sumrith Thanakarnjanasuth watches United on the road for the first time, attending Pep Clotet’s side’s impressive 4-1 victory at Peterborough.
October 5 2017: The Oxford Mail reveals that Eales has held discussions with Thanakarnjanasuth, but United’s chairman refuses to comment. The former Reading FC director, has attended several U’s matches since September.
October 21 2017: Speculation over a possible takeover increases after Thanakarnjanasuth is photographed watching United’s draw at home to Rotherham United from the directors box, but neither party comments on the situation.
November 10 2017: Manager Pep Clotet insists speculation over the club’s ownership has not been a factor in the side’s five-match winless run.
November 28 2017: Eales insists it is “business as usual” at Oxford United and “commenting on whether there is a deal or not isn’t sensible or appropriate until it either happens or it does not”.
December 8 2017: Niall McWilliams is appointed the club’s new managing director. Eales had been doubling up in the role since the departure of Box Turnbull.
December 23 2017: United fall to their heaviest defeat in a home league game as they are beaten 7-0 by Wigan Athletic.
January 3 2018: With the January transfer window opening, Eales stresses the U’s must return to their plan of signing young players with potential. It came after Clotet signed a host of players nearing the end of their careers, who did not have the same sell-on value, in the summer window.
January 11 2018: Eales joins Clotet and Fazackerley on a scouting mission in Europe.
January 16 2018: Jack Payne is recalled by parent club Huddersfield Town and loaned out to United’s League One rivals, Blackburn Rovers.
January 20 2018: United are beaten 2-1 at home by struggling Bury – the second time they have lost to the Shakers this season – with Thanakarnjanasuth watching on from the directors box.
January 22 2018: Clotet is sacked as manager, with assistant head coach Fazackerley put in caretaker charge.
January 31 2018: Despite rumours of player departures, managerless United complete the January transfer window without losing key players Simon Eastwood, Ryan Ledson and Joe Rothwell.
February 8 2018: Eales stresses United are in the middle of a detailed process to find the right manager and, with three games in eight days coming up, “the needs of the team” would come first.
February 10 2018: Thanakarnjanasuth is spotted in the directors box and in the tunnel post-match as the U’s are beaten at home by Bristol Rovers.
February 17 2018: The U’s fall to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Plymouth, their third successive loss, to slip to within five points of the relegation zone.
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