EFL: Championship beckons for Oxford United
Bolton Wanderers 0 - 2 Oxford United
Josh Murphy's double helped his Oxford United side stun Bolton Wanderers in the League One play-off final at Wembley.
In what was a cagey first half, Oxford took the lead on the 30 minute mark. Josh Murphy curled a deflected strike home from the edge of the box.
Murphy had only 11 minutes to wait for his next goal. This came via a Ruben Rodriguez pass that carved Bolton open, as he slotted the ball in at Nathan Baxter's near post.
Oxford United finished the game in dreamland. For Bolton Wanderers, it's another season in League One. The scenes at the end of the match displayed those contrasting emotions.
Exciting future plans for Oxford United
Joshua Murphy. Immortal. pic.twitter.com/C4k61SPybm
— Oxford United FC (@OUFCOfficial) May 18, 2024
With plans for a new stadium on the horizon, Oxford will be hoping that promotion to the Championship with the backing of over 30,000 supporters at Wembley is a reason to be optimistic about what the future will look like for them.
They have not played in English football's second tier since the turn of the millennium, when they turned out in what was then called Division One in 1999.
Perhaps, they will be looking at Luton Town for inspiration. They went on and made the extra step to the Premier League after rising from the National League. Can Oxford do the same?
Click here for more League One news from European Super Football
Where do Bolton go from here?
It ends in defeat for us at Wembley.#bwfc pic.twitter.com/n9cZyaLNAu
— Bolton Wanderers (@OfficialBWFC) May 18, 2024
Looking at Bolton from an outside perspective, it looks to have been another season of progress for Wanderers but it ended with huge disappointment at Wembley.
Since he took over in 2020, Ian Evatt has brought promotion from League Two, an EFL Trophy success and an improved finish every year.
If they progress again next season then they will finish in the top two but it's a massive if at the moment.
This is the place for all the latest EFL news and stories (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com)