Ex-Oxford United star Andy Whing opens up on Banbury exit

Whing, who was a key figure at Oxford United under Chris Wilder and Michael Appleton and went on to coach the youth team, led the Puritans to promotion to the National League North for the first time in their history, winning the Southern League Premier Division Central title.

After keeping Banbury in the sixth tier in their first season, the former boss resigned in May 2023.

Whing went on to become to manager of his local club Solihull Moors, guiding them to the National League play-off final before joining Barrow in League Two.

After being sacked by the Bluebirds in December, the 41-year-old is now boss of National League North outfit Brackley Town.

“I’d been there for two-and-a-half or three years, and the rise of the club was unbelievable,” the ex-Coventry City and Brighton & Hove Albion defender exclusively told the Oxford Mail.

Ex-Banbury United manager Andy Whing (Image: Julie Hawkins)

“A new stand, went from 300 or 400 fans to 1500 or 1600, 2500 at FA Cup games. It went through the roof and I wanted to keep that going and I just felt they couldn’t, or they wanted to slow down. I thought, if we slow down, we’ll go back down to where we’ve just come from, we need to keep going.

“They were too slow with certain things and I just knew that we were going to struggle next season, going to get relegated.

“One thing was how that would look personally on me and I didn’t want that to happen to the club so I just felt it was the right time for me to go. It was a big gamble because I didn’t have anything lined up.”

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The Banbury job was Whing’s first as manager of a club.

“When I was a youth team manager [at Oxford], we’d sent a few youth team lads out on loan to Banbury so I kind of knew of the club.

Cult hero Andy Whing relives chaotic life at Oxford United (Image: Newsquest)

READ MORE: Cult hero Andy Whing relives chaotic life at Oxford United

“It happened out the blue really. I’d left Oxford, I had a stint at Kidderminster, a stint at Coventry Under-18s, a stint at Hereford. None of them really worked out.

“I was just working with my mates at a sofa warehouse, didn’t know where to go next, didn’t have a clue.

“I got phone call out of the blue asking if I wanted the Banbury job. And I just thought, it’s a great opportunity, it’s in Oxfordshire and I’ve got contacts in Oxfordshire. I’ve got the football club down the road who I can rely on to send me loan players, which they did do…anything I needed I could always get from them.

“I thought it was a perfect fit [and] luckily I got the job. In the end, it was an absolute perfect fit.”