Cult hero Andy Whing relives chaotic life at Oxford United

Whing was out of work at the time but his next opportunity, the managerial role at nearby Brackley Town, was only days away from being confirmed.

The former U’s defender was doing his best to keep busy after being relieved of his duties at League Two side Barrow in December, but it was clear coaching was where his heart lay.

And it all began in OX4.

“I retired quite early and the last two years I was really plagued with about three or four operations in the last two years at Oxford and it got to me a little bit. So it took me a while to get over that, and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do.”

The former right back raised the volume of his voice to eclipse the chatter of the café.

“If you’d have said I’d be a League Two manager up until recently five or six years ago, I’d have said ‘absolutely no chance’. I was working in a sofa factory, didn’t know what I was doing with myself, and from there it’s just gone upwards.

“I never really looked into coaching because I didn’t really think it was that close…it kind of just fell into my lap.”

Whing had been in OX4 for four years prior to earning the coaching job and was a firm fan favourite, but it was not always smooth sailing for the Brackley boss.

“I don’t know why, the fans hated me at first,” he recalled.

“Chris Wilder brought me in. It was a slow start, I think we lost to Rotherham at home. I was brought in as a right back but Damian Batt was there, I played a few games in midfield, played at right back.

“We beat Swindon early away from home which helped. But, I think the second Swindon game, I played centre half with Michael Duberry. I was a bit like Sam Long now; he plays right back and centre half, a bit of a stalwart who can play anywhere.

Former Oxford United defender Andy Whing (right) (Image: Newsquest)

“I worked my b******s off, basically, and I think the supporters enjoyed that. That decent person, good personality as well. I think that’s why I stayed coaching for two-and-a-half years because [Michael Appleton] wanted to keep me around. I had a good rapport with the supporters, so it was a really good fit for me.

“I think I got fans’ player of the season that year (2014/15) as well. Obviously, personal accolades are great but, ultimately, we wanted to get the team promoted.

“And we should’ve the next season. I think I blame Chris Wilder for that for leaving us. We were unbelievable until Christmas. Appleton came in and we finally got promoted the year I left.

“I always played, and that was my downfall because I played [taking] tablets, I played through injections. I had some crazy things done to me just to get me through games and I think, eventually, I broke down.

“But I think for Wilder at the time, I was that important…I just had to play all the time even though I wasn’t ready. My groins were hanging off; my hip was hanging off and it kind of killed me down the line. It made me retire early.

Andy Whing on the ball for Oxford United (Image: Oxford Mail Archive)

“At the time, I wanted to play. I wanted to play for him, for the club. I wanted to get promoted. I enjoyed playing but it just killed me further down the line. I remember going out for warm-ups and taking tablets to get through the game.

“There was one on Boxing Day against Wimbledon away – I played centre half in that game – I literally couldn’t warm up. You know when we side-step, I couldn’t do it. I just had to run in a straight line and back.”

Under Wilder, the entire U’s squad was put through their paces, none more so than Whing.

His obvious desire to play for the club meant the former Coventry City and Brighton & Hove Albion man suffered in the long run, and the strenuous pre-season ventures from the manager only added to the hardship.

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Chris Wilder’s gruelling pre-season army camp

“The season that we were top of the league by Christmas and Wilder left, that pre-season we had an army camp. It was brutal. James Constable and Sam Long ended up on a drip because of exhaustion. I think it was in Wigan at a marine army camp.

Oxford United’s James Constable (left) and Andy Whing (Image: Damian Halliwell)

“When I got home [from the army camp] I couldn’t lift to get my trainers and socks off. I was on the bed, and my wife was taking my socks and my trainers off, it was that bad.

“There was running, carrying weights and passing them on, bear-crawling through a field into a lake, running up hills, pushing minibuses in.

“We were locked in a dark room with this horrible screaming horror movie music at three o’clock in the morning to mess with your head. And then this geezer started pulling people out one by one.

“We went to some gym session at two or three in the morning. We woke up every hour. You had to put your wet gear back on and if you had dry gear, you had to jump in the lake.

“Honestly, it was brutal. I think they wanted to do more, but they just broke us. Afterwards, it was the best thing we’d ever done, it was unbelievable.

“By November and December, we were top of the league and we were flying. I think that made us brilliant. That pre-season made us really good, and it’s just a shame that Wilder left.

“I don’t know what happened with bringing the new manager in and bringing new players in but we literally just fell by the wayside. The wrong appointments and all that and just couldn’t stay up there unfortunately.

“I got injured, a couple of others got injured. It was gutting that we couldn’t get up that season. But that summer was probably one of the main highlights and that six months when we were top of the league.

“We weren’t great – we were pretty terrible, to be fair – but we had men, people that just knew how to win.

“We had a good time as well. We used to sit having cups of tea for two or three hours every afternoon with the lads because we were just a close-knit group.

“We also went to Boston twice…It was like two stag dos. We worked hard, by the way.

“There was a pub next to the hotel, and we could have whatever we wanted. It was supposed to be pre-season but there was Coca-Cola, burgers, chips.

“We were playing darts, training, and then back into this pub playing whatever we were playing, eating crap.”

Chris Wilder in charge of Oxford United (Image: Oxford Mail Archive)

As much as there was fun under Wilder, the expectations were clear.

“The first time we played Swindon, we won at their place for the first time in God knows how many years, he just took us straight to the pub and brought us all a beer. He was really good at going, ‘you can work hard, but you can play hard as well’.

“If you weren’t very good on the pitch, you’d have that taken away from you.

“Chris Wilder was brilliant. Not everyone’s cup of tea, he would rub people up the wrong way, but, even though he kind of shortened my career because he played me too much, people like him.”

Over Whing’s 13-year senior career, he enjoyed good spells wherever he went, but it is clear Oxford holds a special place in the former Yellow man’s heart.

“I spent six-and-a-half years at Oxford so, apart from Coventry as a kid, it was the most time I spent at a football club so obviously loved it.

“Loved the people. Loved the people at the ground, the training ground. It was a real close-knit club. I still speak to the old analysts; I still speak to the old physios. I don’t really speak to them from any other club, but I do from Oxford.”