UNITED AMBITION – Oxford fired up for new season

Oxford United finished fourth last season in the FA Women’s National League Southern Premier Division. A strong showing on paper, but a result that the team themselves were frustrated with.

A poor start to the season grew stronger with a change of management. And this showed them what could have been if they’d started better. Which has really fired up the Us for the 2026-27 season. 

During the first ever FAWNL media day, at the start of August, players talked about running through brick walls for each other and psychological safety within the dressing room – signs of a strong culture and a galvanised team. 

Clare McEwen speaks with Maisy Barker, Riva Casley, and captain Naomi Bedeau to learn more about the team… and, of course, who their changing room DJ is. 

Maisy Barker – defender

How would you describe the team’s style of play?

We are a very compact team and we work really hard together.

The chemistry we have in the team, knowing each other’s strengths and what we thrive on, really helps us.

We like to pride ourselves on being a ball possession team, wanting a lot of the ball, as well as being able to counter attack with the qualities we’ve got.

And this pre-season we’ve allowed ourselves to delve deep into our defensive side of the game and we’ve shown – and feel – confident and a strong and sturdy defending team. I think we’ll be hard to break down this year.

You’ve sounded disappointed about last season, but fourth is a pretty decent end result. What are the ambitions this time? 

As a club, we want to show what we can do, first and foremost. Show what we’re capable of achieving. Obviously we want to finish as high up as possible – with goals that we have set as a team. 

If we keep working hard and being together, I’m excited to see what the future holds.

Are there any fixtures you’re particularly looking forward to playing? 

The easiest one to say is probably the Swindon game. Not being from Oxford myself, but obviously we know the rivalry that Swindon poses. I think that’ll be really exciting. 

Also playing the teams we think will finish high in the league, Portsmouth, Fulham, for example. I think the league is going to be very strong this year. So any game is going to pose a different threat, a different challenge. We view every game the same and show respect for all opposition. 

Do you have a changing room DJ? 

At the moment it is Riva. Sometimes a bit questionable, but she’s very consistent. So I’ll allow her to keep it [laughs].

There’s been a few times that Ruby Sealey’s been on the decks and it’s been chaos. So Riva is a solid seven out of ten. 

Riva Casley – defender

You’ve talked about the family-friendly feel at Oxford United. You get lots of girls coming to see your games; I’ve been along and seen them myself. How big a deal is that for you as players? 

Do you know what? I think in the women’s game it’s different, isn’t it? It’s being nice and close with the kids and them getting the opportunity to see their idols up close and personal. 

You get an idea of what the kids want to do, and you can help them a little bit more. And seeing football grow as I have – I’ve been in senior football for the last 10 years – that was something I lacked when I was younger. 

So I’ve always been really pro fan engagement and really wanted to get involved with the kids and all the families and clubs that come and watch us.

It’s so important and when we play big teams – the FA Cup draw can bring anyone – when you get teams like that, it’s a whole day for them and we just want to give them a good show to watch.

Are the club doing anything to bring more fans in?

I think so. Our media team are doing so much behind the seasons to try and build the fanbase. 

I was at Oxford years ago and the fanbase then was kids everywhere. It’s not as much now because I think with the accessibility with women’s football, you can go to big, big stadiums and people make the day of it. Not saying that they don’t want to come and watch us, but they might have a different fixture they might want to watch.

Yeah, the club are definitely pushing it in every possible way they can.

What are your new signings going to bring this season? 

Excitement, real excitement. I know Sophie Quirk anyway, but she spoke for herself last year.

She’s spoken for herself for however many years she’s spent in the WNL. But she will bring goals. 

I catch myself doing it a lot, I just stand back and watch her sometimes. I’m like yeah, you do you, Soph, if you want to go and change the game, you go change the game. She’s exciting.

And Maddie [Brant], who we’ve also brought in, she’s the hardest worker. She runs, she puts her body on the line, she’ll do anything for everyone. She’s the nicest person and she’s, funny enough, down the same side as Soph, so having both of them working behind each other, it’s going to be a real good watch this year.

Are there any fixtures you’re particularly looking forward to?

A personal one for me is Portsmouth away. I spent two years there, won the league with them, then spent a year in the Championship with them. I think it would just be a little bit more of a personal one. 

But on the club front, I think the Swindon game is a big one because it’s a rival. I love a rival game

Obviously with Watford going, they were our previous rivals, so for me, the Portsmouth game, but for the club, Swindon.

I’ve heard that you’re the club DJ?

I am, yeah. No-one else is trusted. They’ve had their chance but they’ve blown it [laughs].

What do you play?

A bit of everything, really, it depends. I tend to judge it by the vibe when I walk into the changing room. So if it needs a bit more of an upbeat, everyone’s a little bit tired or quiet, then I’ll put a little bit of upbeat stuff. Or I’ll throw it back to the 90s, yeah, there’s real range in there sometimes actually.

Always here for the 90s. Any favourite 90s track, because there’s too many.

Awww, there are so many. Absolutely. I’ve got a full playlist. I couldn’t pick one. 

Naomi Bedeau – defender and captain

How would you describe your leadership style?

I would say that it’s very much about empowerment. It’s not this autocratic style of what I say goes. 

It’s ensuring you bring the best out of everyone, because we’re a team, every individual is accountable so we need to bring out the best of those individuals.

So I’d say, getting to know the individuals and what makes them tick is the way in which I’d like to say I lead. 

When you get new signings in, how quickly do you get to know them and how are they all fitting in?

We get to know them pretty quickly because we spend quite a lot of time together, just training and stuff. 

And we spend time outside football socialising as well. 

So I think we get to know them as individuals quickly. Kind of the way of football is, when new signings are made, they have to settle in quite quick. 

What are they going to bring to the team?

I think experience and just another level to us. The quality of the new signings, they drive the group, just based on their own quality and their own standards. They bring consistency and experience. 

Any specific fixtures you’re looking forward to?

I’m looking forward to playing Swindon just because it’s a derby. And I really enjoyed playing Bournemouth last season. We played at the Vitality and it was a midweek game, under the lights. So I look forward to doing the same this season. 

What’s the vibe around the team at the moment? 

Definitely very positive. Everyone feels re-energised from the break and have redirected our frustrations of last season and put it into attacking this pre-season in the correct manner.

So just excited to go, and ready for the 16th [August]. 

You all seem disappointed with last season, but from a table point of view, it looked good. Is that motivating you? 

Yeah, definitely. We looked at how we finished the second half of the season, and if we were to average that out – and that second half of the season was the same as the first half – we’d have been really pushing at the top and looking at a promotion position. 

That’s why we feel quite disappointed. We had a not so great start, which put us on the back foot for the rest of the season. 

It’s more frustration than disappointment. Because we know we can actually be a lot better, because we proved it over the second half of the season.

Oxford United begin their campaign away to Exeter City at 2pm on Sunday 16th August. Their first home game is at 2pm on Sunday 23rd August against Lewes.

Photos: Laura Smith