Oxford United are ‘very capable for League One’ claims Mills

The U’s suffered relegation from the Championship in the 2025/26 season after finishing 22nd in the table and will drop down to the third tier alongside Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday.

Oxford enjoyed a two-year stay in the second tier after winning promotion via the play-offs in 2024, beating Bolton Wanderers in the final.

After announcing their retained last week, the club confirmed that 10 players would leave the club upon the expiry of their contracts.

Przemyslaw Placheta and Hidde ter Avest were the most notable departures with the rest of the name mostly considered fringe players.

Coventry City’s Ephron Mason-Clark (left) and Oxford United’s Hidde ter Avest battle for the ball (Image: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)

Looking ahead to next season, Stan Mills’ father, Danny, has offered his thoughts on the state of play in OX4 and elsewhere.

“Oxford will retain the majority of their Championship squad from the last two seasons,” the former England international told Bet St George.

“I look at their squad and think it’s very capable for League One.

“You’ve got to look at Leicester in League One. Their squad’s going to be obviously massively disrupted, but they will still have some Premier League players playing in League One.

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Matt Bloomfield watches on as Oxford United beat Leicester (Image: ©Jason Dawson)

“Look at Sheffield Wednesday as well. The fact that they’re going to get a takeover, start from scratch, get 25,000 [in attendance] every week. They’ll have a good go.

“There’s obviously not such a huge discrepancy in finances, apart from those teams that come down from the Premier League and the Championship, so League One and League Two are getting more condensed. The quality is getting better across all those teams. 

“Apart from those outliers that have ridiculous weight, if Tottenham Hotspur came down, for instance, or West Ham came down, when you look at the money that they would have to spend, they’ve got huge spending power, the rest is starting to condense. That’s what makes it so exciting, but also makes it very hard as well.”

Mills is the father of Oxford winger Stan who picked up the Supporters’ and Player’s Player of the Year awards at the end of the season.

Oxford United’s Stanley Mills (centre) celebrates scoring (Image: Nigel French/PA Wire)

The 22-year-old is one who is expected to garner attention this summer from elsewhere following a standout season for the U’s.

The younger Mills scored four goals and managed three assists in 43 Championship appearances this season and was a constant threat on the right wing, especially under Matt Bloomfield throughout the second half of the season.

He joined United permanently in January 2025 from Everton after an earlier loan spell at the Kassam in the 2023/24 campaign.