BEATING Swindon Town at the County Ground has become the Holy Grail for Oxford United for the past 50 years.

The reason is simple – it’s because it has become so difficult to achieve.

Only once in 25 visits to the Wiltshire club’s ground have United come away with a victory.

Their one win, seven draws and 17 defeats at Swindon makes dire reading.

Many Oxford fans, indeed all U’s supporters aged under 30, have never seen their team win at the home of their biggest rivals.

United’s one victory there came in the 1972-3 season.

Goals from Nigel Cassidy, Hughie Curran and Dave Roberts brought Gerry Summers’ team a 3-1 victory at the County Ground on February 24, 1973, and earned them the double that season.

There was a notable victory over Swindon Town at the Manor Ground too on September 24, 1969.

Swindon were the holders of the League Cup, having beaten Arsenal 3-1 after extra time in a famous giantkilling at Wembley the previous March.

So they came to the Manor as the holders, but had that crown ripped off them as a David Sloan winner brought Oxford a 1-0 victory in front of more than 18,000 spectators.

Other famous wins over Swindon have come at the Manor in 1992, when both Joey Beauchamp and John Durnin hit doubles in a thrilling 5-3 victory, and at the Kassam Stadium in December 2002, when a Jefferson Louis winner gave Ian Atkins’s team a televised 1-0 FA Cup second round victory, and earned them a trip to Arsenal in the next round.

Will facing Swindon Town early in the season at the County Ground be good for Oxford?

Swindon were relegated and bottom of League One last season.

But they are likely too, to have been lifted by the appointment of the former West Ham striker Paolo di Canio as their new manager, and the excitement that has generated.

Whatever happens at the County Ground on Saturday, August 20, in what is only Oxford United’s second away game of the season, a fantastic atmosphere is guaranteed.

And, depending on how the two clubs are doing, the return match at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday, March 3 should also be a sell-out.

It is, after all, more than a decade since the two arch rivals last met in league combat.

But the waiting is nearly over.

CARDIFF City, Oxford United’s opponents in the first round of the Carling Cup, have appointed Malky Mackay as their new manager.

The 39-year-old, who was formerly in charge at Watford, replaces Dave Jones, whose six-year reign ended on May 30 after their play-off semi-final defeat against Reading.

FOOTBALL League new boys AFC Wimbledon have signed former Oxford United striker Jack Midson on a free transfer.

The 27-year-old was not offered a new deal by Oxford this summer after two years at the club.

Midson had also been linked to Cheltenham and Hereford.