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? 

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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.

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Some of the best reaction

Daniel, an Oxford fan, told us on Facebook: "Wow, that was truly magical and majestic, orchestrated by one of our own. The players executed the manager's plan perfectly. Two months and 11 games ago, we suffered a crushing 5-0 defeat to Bolton. Today, those same players came back in front of 70,400 fans and secured their return to the Championship. This is an afternoon we will all never forget."

Scott, a Bolton fan was at Wembley. He posted on the same platform: "The players are at their fast when they intense, and energetic. From minute one, that wasn't there against Oxford. Whether that was the occasion or pressure, I don't know, but it was not acceptable. However, it had been a fantastic season up until that point. We have made fantastic progress and are on some kind of upward trajectory. Already excited for next season, even if a few weeks rest is going to be nice before I prepare to watch England at Euro 2024."