Oxford United have sold their 3,000th season ticket – and the man who bought it believes he will see the U’s win promotion.

Colin May, 74, of Kidlington, brought up the milestone when he renewed his seat in the South Stand Upper for the forthcoming season.

And Chris Wilder’s summer signings mean that May – who has followed United since the 1950s – is optimistic that this season will be one to savour.

“The manager has made it more and more exciting every year he has been at Oxford,” May said.

“He lets a lot of players go, and then signs a batch of new, better ones and that is great for the fans and the club.

“I can’t see why this season we will not be celebrating promotion – I think we have the players to do it.”

United sold a total of more than 4,000 season tickets last season – including those brought during the campaign.

But they have reached the 3,000 mark earlier than 12 months ago, and are optimistic that they can better last year’s tally.

Chairman Kelvin Thomas said: “Our supporters were superb both home and away last season and are a credit to our club.

“We are the envy of many in higher divisions with the amount of fans we have and we are obviously looking to build on those numbers for the coming campaign.

“To have sold more than 3,000 season tickets by the first week in June with three weeks to go until the next deadline means we are in a strong position to surpass the 4,000 which we sold last season and further grow our support base.

“Chris Wilder has made a number of excellent signings already which we know have excited the fans and everyone is looking forward to pushing on and driving this club forward.”

United supporters have until June 30 to purchase season tickets at the reduced price and to secure the same seats that they held last year.

The club are also offering a ten-month finance option to help spread the cost throughout the season.