It's the first of our home pre-season friendlies on
Saturday, with Championship side Birmingham City the visitors for
what, for many supporters, will be the first chance to see our summer
recruits in action. As is now customary at this time of year, we've
been trawling the internet looking for information about the new
players to present you with these brief profiles of our six new
players (not including youngsters Josh Shama, Kenzer Lee and Matt
Bevans, who will join the development squad this season). Enjoy!
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| Picture by Jon Whiles Photography |
Jonathan
Meades
21-year-old Meades
came through the youth system at Cardiff while Neal Ardley was head
of the Academy there. At the tender age of 18 he was sent on loan for
the summer to Norwegian side Moss
FK (bizarrely getting sent
off and winning the man of the match award in his first
game), and though it was one
which ultimately ended in relegation
from the top flight it proved a good grounding for Meades and
provided him with an early experience of competitive first-team
football.
Big things were
expected from Meades, but his early career was plagued by injury and
he eventually departed Cardiff in 2012 without making a first-team
appearance. He joined League One Bournemouth after a trial there in
the summer, but missed the Cherries'
visit to the Kassam in the
League Cup as his transfer hadn't yet been ratified by the Football
League. However, Meades was unfortunate to be joining Bournemouth at
a time when the club was undergoing something of a transition and the
return
of Eddie Howe to the Dean
Court hotseat just a couple of months into the season probably didn't
help Meades' cause.
Meades was sent out
on loan to struggling AFC Wimbledon in November and soon impressed at
Kingsmeadow as he rejoined his old mentor Neal Ardley. He soon
established himself as a starter at the Dons, seeing his loan
extended to the end of the season as a vital player in Wimbledon's
(ultimately successful) relegation battle. Ardley wanted to keep him at
Wimbledon on a permanent basis, but Meades instead opted to join
Oxford, featuring in recent friendlies against Ardley
and Alloa.
David
Hunt
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Hunt began his career at Crystal Palace but soon moved on to League Two Leyton Orient in 2003. In 2005, he traded London for Northampton, winning promotion from League Two in 2006 with the Cobblers. Hunt helped Northampton to a respectable 9th-place finish in their debut League One season but in 2007 he was on the move again, this time to Shrewsbury Town after rejecting a contract extension at Northampton.
However, his time at
the Shrews was an unhappy one, as his year and a half there was
blighted by injuries which limited him to just 22 starts. He signed
for Brentford in January 2009, helping Andy
Scott's team to the league
title at the end of the season. He was an ever-present in the
Brentford side as he helped the Bees consolidate their position in
their debut League One season with a 9th-placed finish.
Hunt joined Crawley
Town on loan in January 2011, with the club on their way to the
Conference title. He joined Crawley permanently that summer and would
go on to play a big part in their second successive promotion –
this time from League Two. However, despite being a key member in two
promotions for the Red Devils, Hunt found himself second choice for
much of last season and so opted for a move to Oxford at the end of
the season. He wrote on his
blog of his decision to join
Oxford:
A few options popped up although none of them interested me enough make me want to leave. That was until Chris Wilder and Oxford United came knocking. I've always thought of Oxford as a big club and one that I believe should be much higher in the tiers of football. I've played with many ex United players such as Lee Steele, Andy Scott, Jamie Cook and the legend Dannie Bulman who all have spoken highly of the club. Bullwink had always let me know how good it was and what they are trying to achieve, this all made me fascinated.
Danny Rose should be a
familiar face to most Oxford fans, following his spell at the club in
2007 and 2008. Rose came through the youth system at Manchester
United and had been captain of their reserve team before Jim Smith
brought
him to Oxford on loan in January 2007. He made 22 appearances in
the second half of the 2006-07 season and signed permanently that
summer despite interest from clubs in League One and the
Championship.
Unfortunately the 2007-08
season wasn't a success for him or the club and he moved on at the
end of the season, joining Conference South side Newport County. Rose
shone at Newport and was a major player for them as they won the
Conference South title in 2010 and continued to impress in the
Conference National with the Exiles.
Crystal
Palace were reported to be
interested in signing him, but he eventually signed for big-spending
Fleetwood Town in January 2012. Rose helped Fleetwood win the title
at the end of that season but found himself out of favour in League
Two and was sent out on loan to struggling Aldershot. The Shots were
ultimately relegated at the end of the season, but Rose had done
enough to impress Chris Wilder, who snapped him up this summer.
Dave
Kitson
Kitson – allegedly
the Secret Footballer –
was this summer's big 'marquee signing', joining from Sheffield
United just five years after Stoke paid £5.5million for his services
in the Premier League. Kitson's route into top-flight football was an
unorthodox one, beginning his career at Hitchin Town before moving to
Arlesey Town, while working as a shelf-stacker at his local
Sainsbury's.
In 2001 he joined
Cambridge United – then in League One – netting ten times in his
first full season at the club. He scored an impressive 25 times in
2002-03 and had begun the 03-04 season in prolific fashion before
Reading came calling. He continued his goalscoring form there and
helped them to the Championship title in 2006. He scored Reading's
first goal as a Premier League club but was injured in the same match
and missed half of the season as a result.
Kitson continued to
impress in the top-flight for Reading upon his return and earned a
big-money move to Stoke City following the Royals' relegation from
the Premier League. However, the move was not a success and Kitson
failed to score once for Stoke in his first season at the Britannia
Stadium, finishing the season back at Reading on loan. He began the
following season better but was then loaned out to Middlesbrough and
his Stoke career fell flat, with him eventually departing for
Portsmouth in the summer of 2010.
He scored 12 goals
during two years at Fratton Park but joined a club in turmoil and
suffered relegation from the Championship with Pompey in 2012. After
leaving Portsmouth, Kitson then joined League One Sheffield United,
scoring 12 goals in 37 appearances (including at the Kassam in the
Blades'
FA Cup victory) before
heading back down south to join Oxford. Kitson reportedly had
interest from Championship clubs, but opted to become a yellow in
order to be nearer to his family.
Asa
Hall
Asa Hall is another figure
that United fans should be familiar with, returning to the club on
loan from Shrewsbury just a year after his departure. Hall came
through the ranks at Birmingham City and was a highly rated product,
appearing for England under
19s and under
20s before being sent out on loan to Boston United and Ashford
Town to gain first-team experience. In 2008 he was loaned to
Shrewsbury Town, where he impressed sufficiently to have been offered
a contract by boss Gary Peters and then by his successor Paul
Simpson, but turned
the club down in favour of a move to Luton.
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Hall joined a Luton side still reeling from an unprecedented 30-point deduction which all but confirmed their relegation before the season had even begun – a curious move for a young player of whom much was expected. Hall became an important player for the Hatters, chipping in with some impressive long-range goals and picking up a medal as JPT champions despite the inevitable relegation at the end of the season. Hall continued his form in the Conference, but after the arrival of Simon Heslop he was deemed surplus to requirements and released at the end of the season.
In 2010 Hall joined Oxford
in time for the start of our first season back in the Football League
(shortly followed by the aforementioned Heslop!) and expectations
were high. Arguably Hall never really delivered on his promise during
his first spell at the Kassam, though he was a solid
performer and in the last few months of his time here was looking
impressive. He clearly did enough to impress Chris Wilder, who
offered him a new contract, only for Hall to opt for a move to a
higher-placed club nearer his home in the Midlands and join League
One Shrewsbury. But last season wasn't a great success for Hall, who
struggled to impress his new employers, finishing the season with
relegation to the Conference while on loan with Aldershot.
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Tom
Newey
Experienced defender Tom
Newey began his career with Leeds United, though he never made any
first-team appearances for them, spending time on loan at Cambridge
United and Darlington before joining League Two Leyton Orient in July
2003. He made 63 appearances for the O's during two seasons at
Brisbane Road, eventually leaving for Cambridge after a second loan
spell at the Abbey Stadium.
His time with the 'other
U's' was not exactly successful as he suffered relegation to the
Conference during his only season at the club, moving back north to
Grimsby where he became a first team regular, having switched from
left wing to left-back, during a four-year spell with the Mariners.
Though Newey took a while to find
his feet, he eventually became an immense success at Grimsby,
reaching the play-off
final in his first season at the club. He made a repeat
appearance at Wembley – again unsuccessfully – in 2008 after
captaining the side in the final
of the JPT. Newey's 2008-09 season was cut short by injury,
during which time new manager Mike Newell replaced him and he was
loaned out to Rochdale after being told he could leave on a free
transfer.
He signed for Bury that
summer after a successful trial, making 32 appearances for the
Shakers before a move to Rotherham the following summer.
Sheffield-born Newey settled
in quickly back in South Yorkshire and soon established himself
as number one choice at left-back for the Millers. However, his time
there fell flat after two ill-fated promotion campaigns ended in
mid-table disappointment and he joined Scunthorpe United last summer.
Newey was an important player for the Iron last season, missing just
one league game all season, but was released following their
relegation from League One (Callum Kennedy – another Oxford target
– was favoured at left-back prior to his move to AFC Wimbledon)
before joining United shortly after the players returned for
pre-season.
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