1984/85 SEASON
League:
Level
Canon League Division 2
Position:
Champions
FA Cup:
Fourth Round
League Cup:
Fourth Round
Chairman:
Robert Maxwell
Manager:
Jim Smith
Top Scorer:
John Aldridge (34)
Notable Players:
John Aldridge, Gary Briggs, Kevin Brock, Jeremy Charles, Billy Hamilton, Steve Hardwick, Trevor Hebberd, David Langan, Bobby McDonald, Peter Rhoades-Brown, Malcolm Shotton.
Newly promoted Oxford United made light work of Division 2, making history by becoming the first English club to win promotion as champions in successive seasons.
Kit Manufacturer
This was to be Spall's last season with Oxford, but what a time, with the club enjoying its most successful period, with multiple promotions and giant-killing cup runs.
Sponsor
The sponsor's logo was now in blue lettering and applied using crude sewn-on characters. These particular shirts featured for just two months.
Other shirt variations were to feature more regularly, full details are outlined below.
Home Kit & Away Variation
Long
sleeves
Apart from the new style of BPCC lettering, the kit remained largely unchanged from the previous two seasons. However, there were subtle differences, most notably the shirt crest, which was now wrapped in text commemorating the team's status as Division 3 Champions.
The small Spall motifs that had previously appeared on the sleeves were removed. Additionally, the blue shorts were noticeably different, featuring pinstripes and a small white Spall motif.
The sewn block numbers from the previous two seasons were replaced with more traditional sans-serif numerals.
1982 & 1983
Shirts
1984
BPCC Shirt
Away Kit
Long
sleeves
The third choice kit from the 83/84 season was the template for a new all-white away kit.
This particular variation featured only once, away at Wimbledon.
Goalkeeper Jerseys
Sponsor Change
Long
sleeves
From the middle of October, another Robert Maxwell business, the Sunday People newspaper, became the primary shirt sponsor.
It might be easy to assume that these large logo panels were simply applied over the existing BPCC lettering on the match shirts.
However, they were, in fact, brand new shirts featuring yet another variation in the player numbers, which now featured a screen-printed ‘block-shadow’ style numeral.
1984 BPCC
Shirt
Sunday People
Shirt
TV Shirts
Long
sleeves
When the TV cameras were present, the 1983 plain BPCC shirts were worn. It seems that for this season a plain goalkeeper jersey was worn
Match By Match
Huddersfield
Away
Hereford
Away
Portsmouth
Home
Hereford
Home
Wimbledon
Away
Fulham
Home
Wolves
Home
Grimsby
Away
Blackburn
Away
Carlisle
Home
Man City
Away
Blackburn
Home
Brighton
Home
Sheffield U
Home
Birmingham Away
Arsenal
Home
Blackburn
Home
Shrewsbury
Away
Oldham
Away
Ipswich
Away
Leeds
Home
Notts C
Away
Charlton
Home
Portsmouth
Away
Cardiff
Home
C Palace
Home
Middlesboro'
Away
Shrewsbury
Away
Blackburn
Home
Carlisle
Away
C Palace
Away
Fulham
Away
Blackburn
Away
Birmingham
Home
Sheffield U
Away
Wimbledon
Home
Brighton
Away
Man City
Home
Grimsby
Home
Barnsley
Away
Cardiff
Away
Middlesboro'
Home
Wolves
Away
Huddersfield
Home
Oldham
Home
Shrewsbury
Home
Leeds
Away
Notts C
Home
Charlton
Away
Barnsley
Home
Rarities
The crude iron-on lettering used for the 1984 BPCC shirts were also used on a set of shirts featuring the Pergamon name. They never featured in a first team game but were used by the reserves.
The red away kit used in '82 and '83 was produced with the 1984 crest, but this never saw first-team action.