Wembley and beyond with sports access

This Saturday Oxford United are due to play at Wembley for the League One final against Bolton. It’s the first time our club have been to Wembley since 2020 when no crowds were allowed in and we missed our chance for promotion to the Championship. This time fingers arms and legs are all crossedfor a different result. Over 35,000 Oxford fans are expected to go and I will be there with my husband and kids, taking part in history.

You couldn’t ask for a more exciting build up to the day when the club could play in a beautiful world-class stadium on the outskirts of Kidlington a mere cycle ride away from where I live.

The proposed new stadium is designed to be enjoyed all year round – not just match days. There is a public plaza plannedfor community markets and events, as well as restaurants and community spaces and open access parkland.

The County Council has just pressed the green light on the project, but there’s plenty of work to do before any spades can hit the ground. Strict planning conditions must be met and consultation responses considered by Cherwell Council. During this period, I’ll be looking for clear answers on how the club will ensure traffic keeps moving on match days. I’ll be pushing hard to ensure the proposals are good for residentsin Kidlington.

As your aspiring Labour MP, I support the stadium project because it will be a facility we can all enjoy, whether we’re football fans or not. It will bring jobs and investment to Kidlington. Perhaps most important of all, I’ve seen how football can bring families and communities together.

Whether its grandpa promising to take his granddaughter to her first match, or the post-match analysis round the dinner table – much of the joy of football happens off the field.

As the mother of girls, I’m particularly excited by women’s changing relationship with football. For a long time women’s role has been literally on the sidelines. Now, thanks to Lioness’ victories and the efforts of local clubs, girls and women are part of the action. OUFC’s Women’s team is a team to be proud of. If you go to a community match - like the Kidlington Youth Ladies FC match I was at the other day– the kids running around the spectator stands in their training kits are both boys AND girls.

But there’s still a lot to do to build equality in sport. Labour is committed to closing the ‘gender play gap’ where fewer girls enjoy sport at school than boys. The number of PE teachers in schools has dropped by 2000 (7%) since 2011. This period stretches from the Lib Dem/Tory coalition to the tired out, recycled, Conservative government we have today. Labour plans to make the sports teacher numbers back up and more. We will have a special focus on getting girls active. With rising levels of childhood obesity and many kids affected by poor mental health, we want everyone to enjoy being active.    

Oxford United seem to recognise this too. Their community offer includes apprenticeships, partnerships with schools and mental health support. I’ll be working to ensure those commitments translate into exciting opportunities for our young people, especially in Kidlington and right across the new Bicester and Woodstock constituency.

So, this Saturday I’ll be waving my yellow flag, not just for a win, but in expectation, of how we as a community can partner with our brilliant club. Whatever the result on Saturday, I hope this is just the start.

[This article first appeared in the Bicester Advertiser on 16th May]