THE departure of manager Enzo Maresca from Leicester City to Chelsea has unearthed a quirky record involving Oxford United.
Maresca’s exit means it will be the first time since 1985 that a second tier champion will have a new manager on the opening day of the following top flight season, according to expert football statistics account OptaJoe.
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1985 - With Enzo Maresca's departure at Leicester, the English second tier champions will have a new manager on the opening day of the next top-flight season for the first time since 1985, when Oxford United went up with Jim Smith but had Maurice Evans in charge on MD1. Foxtrot. pic.twitter.com/q8fw1D9bXQ
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 3, 2024
In the 1984/85 campaign, the U’s were promoted to Division One under Jim Smith, with the club achieving back-to-back league titles.
Winning consecutive championships in the third and second tier had never been done before by any club, and hasn’t been achieved since.
Despite guiding United to the top flight for the first time in the club’s history, Smith resigned as manager during the summer of 1985, and was replaced by Maurice Evans, who had been chief scout and youth development officer with the U’s for the previous 18 months.
Evans led United to their famous Milk Cup victory in 1986, beating Queens Park Rangers, managed by Smith, 3-0 in the Wembley final.
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