A NEW Oxford United bar gave fans the perfect start to the season this weekend – off the pitch at least.

The Yellows Bar – built outside The George pub in Littlemore by a group of regulars – was heaving hours before kick off on Saturday as fans made the most of the sunshine.

And there was plenty to celebrate, as the club officially returned to the third tier of English football, playing their first League One match against Chesterfield.

The George's Yellows Bar served its first pints when Premier League champions Leicester City visited last month but fans got their first Saturday experience at their new watering hole at the weekend.

Landlord Nigel Woodley said: "It's been the almost perfect start to the season, the weather was great as well as the atmosphere and we were pleased to see so many fans come along.

"We have always had a good Oxford United following at the pub but with the promotion and the success last season we wanted to accommodate the fans even more.

"We wanted it to be a family thing so it was great to see so many kids here for the first game and the away fans enjoyed it too."

Visitors on Saturday enjoyed the "substitutes bench" at the bar complete with fake grass and a food wagon serving burgers in the build-up to United's season opener which ended in a 1-1 draw to Chesterfield.

Yellows fans have not had a watering hole to call their own since the Grade II-listed Priory pub off Grenoble Road closed down in 2013.

Lifelong fan Jade Dickerson, 31, from Cowley, said: "Since the Priory closed there's been nowhere for fans to meet up but Nigel and the team here have done an amazing job.

"It's family friendly and very community orientated – it's not going to replace the Priory but it's a great meeting place for Oxford United fans in what could be another great season."

Pub company Merlin Inns invested £6,000 in the outdoor bar and pub regulars who are professional painters, carpenters and builders carried out the work.

Martin Bishop, from Blackbird Leys, was trying out the Yellows Bar with his eleven-year-old grandson Jake Smith.

The 51-year-old said: "We are season ticket holders but we don't really have a regular place to go before the games but we thought we would come here for the opening game.

"It's been fantastic and definitely somewhere we will come back to."

A handful of Chesterfield fans made the most of the Yellows Bar's free parking and soaked up the sun alongside U's fans on a hot afternoon in Littlemore.

Landlord Nigel Woodley – an avid United fan – also revealed that the pub would organise away coaches for yellows to various games this season for £11 a seat.