United recently announced changes to its leadership structure as Grant Ferguson stepped down as chair.

Two new names were appointed, with Dusan Bogdanovic announced as Ferguson’s replacement and former Inter Milan board member Rudi Laksmana joining the U’s board.

The Serbian national was most recently CEO of Indonesian club Garudayaksa’s foundation and already had a relationship with Yellows owner Erick Thohir, having been pictured with him in December 2024 alongside FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

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Now, the new chairman has released a statement addressing the fans amid his takeover of the role at the EFL League One club.

“I am deeply honoured to take on the role of chairman of Oxford United Football Club,” Bogdanovic said.

“This is a club with history, character and a proud sense of community.

“Oxford United means a great deal to so many people, and I fully understand the responsibility that comes with helping to lead it.

“It is a genuine privilege to be involved, and I approach this role with ambition, humility and a clear determination to help the club succeed and compete at the highest level, both on and off the pitch.

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“I would like to thank my predecessor, Grant Ferguson, for his dedication and leadership over the past four years.

“Grant has played an important part in one of the most successful periods in the Club’s recent history, and I look forward to working alongside him and the rest of the board as we continue to dream big and build for the future.

“I appreciate that it has taken some time for me to properly introduce myself.

“Since taking up the position of Chair, my immediate focus has been on understanding the club in detail, reviewing our football structures and transfer plans with Ed Waldron, and ensuring we respond with clarity, unity and purpose following relegation to League One.

“My vision is simple: to help engineer Oxford United into a club that plays beautiful, brave and effective football, a team with identity, intelligence and ambition.

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“We must be exciting to watch, but also disciplined, resilient and built to win.

“There is a great deal of work ahead, particularly as we prepare for an important summer and the new season.

“We are aligned in our ambitions, focused on strengthening intelligently, recruiting well, and creating the best possible environment for long-term sporting success.

“Just as importantly, I am passionate about bringing our supporters and the community even closer to the club.

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“Success on the pitch is powered by the energy, belief and passion of the fans.

“Oxford United’s community is one of its greatest strengths, and I want us to deepen that connection, improve engagement, and ensure our supporters feel proud of the direction we are taking.

“I am looking forward to spending time in Oxford throughout the season, meeting with the community, listening, learning and playing my part in protecting the identity and values of this club while helping to build something even stronger for the future.

“I believe there are great times ahead for Oxford United. Thank you, once again, for your continued support.”

The U’s will compete in League One next season after finishing 22nd in the second tier last term.

Saunders played for the club from 1987 to 1988 and played 52 times, scoring 20 goals, before moving to First Division champions Liverpool.

The former Yellows goal scorer appeared at the DEBRA Charity Cup at Oxford City last weekend for the Oxford United Legends team alongside other ex-professionals including Graeme Souness, Ron Atkinson and Matt Le Tissier.

Speaking exclusively to the Oxford Mail, Saunders opened up on his feelings towards Oxford and went on to detail what the U’s must do to bounce back from relegation.

“It’s hard to compete [in the Championship] for Oxford. But it was nice to see them in there last year, and I thought they were going to stay up,” the 61-year-old admitted.

Dean Saunders playing against Liverpool for Oxford United (Image: Oxford Mail archive)

“Six or seven games to go, I thought they were going to do it. So I was a bit gutted.

“I was always proud to play for the club. But they’ve got to bounce back now.

“There’s sometimes a hangover from relegation. Players thinking they’re too good to be in League One. Feeling sorry for themselves. Maybe saying to their agent: “Can you get me out of here? I don’t want to play in League One”.

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Former Oxford United striker Dean Saunders playing at Oxford City (Image: Oxford City FC)

“And then right at the start of the season, you get off to a bad start. Because the players, up until the first game of the season, still think they’re leaving. They’ve got a chance of getting out the trap door.

“The manager’s job there is to get their minds focused on winning the first three or four games. Once that takes care of everything, you get off to a good start. Everybody wants to be there.

“Matt Bloomfield…he’s balancing the budget. Deciding who wants to be there.”

Saunders went on to become a manager after his playing days ended.

“I’ve managed in League One, I’ve managed in the Championship. It is a big difference.

Former Oxford United striker Dean Saunders (left) with Oxford Mail reporter Malachi Obrey at Oxford City (Image: Newsquest)

“I managed Wrexham against Oxford in the conference. 2011, something like that. Chris Wilder was manager.

“I was distraught to see him in the conference. I played for them in the [First Division]. But even being in the Championship, I thought that’s brilliant coming from where people forget.

“Luton have done it, Wrexham have done it: coming from down there, right down there all the way up to the Championship. It looks like they’ve got good foundations as a club.”

Le Tissier is widely considered one of Southampton’s best ever players and was a Premier League star in the 1990s, also managing eight caps for England.

Nicknamed “Le God” by Saints fans during his 16-year spell at the club, the 57-year-old scored 195 goals in 520 games as an attacking midfielder, 101 of those in the Premier League.

Le Tissier played at Oxford City’s Mgroup Stadium last Sunday in the DEBRA Charity Cup organised by Liverpool hero Graeme Souness, appearing alongside other big names such as Dean Saunders and Carlton Palmer.

Despite spending his entire professional career at St Mary’s, the ex-England international detailed the fact that he could have shone for the U’s rather than on the south coast.

“Oxford was the first club I was associated with,” Le Tissier confirmed to BBC Radio Oxford.

Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak (right) speaks with former Southampton player Matt Le Tissier (Image: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire)

“I came over as a 15-year-old back in 1984 and I moved to Oxford to live with a friend of my dad’s and went to school here. The idea was that I was going to train with the schoolboys in the evenings and at weekends.

“I didn’t settle in the school that I went to and after a couple of days I was too homesick and went back home.

“I was desperate to become a professional footballer so I wanted to give it a try. I also then had a trial with Southampton just after that and then Southampton decided they wanted to sign me.”

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Graeme Souness on the touchline at Oxford City (Image: Oxford City FC)

Le Tissier’s Oxford links do not end there, however.

“I came back a few years ago when Michael Appleton was manager and Oxford were having a bit of a crisis in the penalty-taking department. I think they’d missed about seven or eight in a row,” he said.

“Dave Jones, the presenter at Sky, was on the board at the time and he said to me: ‘We’re struggling with penalties…come down and show the lads how you did it’. So, I did.

David Jones (left) with Sumrith Thanakarnjanasuth in the directors’ box at the Kassam Stadium in October 2017 (Image: David Fleming)

“I went down on one Friday morning and showed them, and then on the Saturday I was on Soccer Saturday and Jeff Stelling throws to the game at Oxford and the presenter goes: ‘Oxford have just missed a penalty’.

“I was like, oh no, what have I done? Luckily for me, they never took the advice I gave them which was never hit it down the middle because I always went either side.”

The culprit that day was former Yellows forward Kemar Roofe who hit his spot kick down the centre of the goal and saw it saved in a 0-0 draw with Morecambe at the Kassam.