Meet Our Team
Matt Everett
Matt has worked in sport, predominantly football, for over 20 years – including permanent roles at Arsenal, Sale Sharks, Stoke City and Oxford United (twice!). Matt has also run a successful sports data consultancy, supporting club’s such as Leicester City, Blackburn Rovers and Wigan Athletic.
Living in Oxfordshire since the age of 6, Matt has seen the impact the Club can have across the county and joined the Charity’s Board of Trustees in 2018 whilst in post as Commercial & Marketing Director at Oxford United, to help further increase its impact in his home county.
Having left the Club in 2020 to co-found and lead a sports data and technology company, Matt retained his passion for the Club’s Community impact and remained a Trustee, joining the Charity full-time as CEO in January 2024.
As a life-long fan, knowing the Club and county inside out, his ambition is for the Charity to help as many people as possible who need it, by increasing it’s impact county-wide, and allowing more people within Oxfordshire to grow their affiliation with their local club.
Chris Lowes
Chris has worked for the Charity for 19 years, starting as a sessional coach, progressing into full-time roles leading programmes and operations and is passionate about the impact sport can have on education and inclusion across the county.
Appointed in January 2018 as Head of Charity, and as Chief Operating Officer in January 2024, Chris has been instrumental in optimising its programmes and social impact across Oxfordshire.
As COO, Chris manages all day-to-day operations of the Charity, as well as leading our team of programme leads, and identifying new programmes and opportunities to further our reach and impact.
He also undertakes the duties of Designated Safeguarding Lead and the Health and Safety Officer.
Kerrie Bates
Kerrie joined Oxford United in the Community in January 2024 as the charities Operations Administrator. Kerrie supports the team with adminstration, marketing, social media and matchday experiences.
Kerrie has a wealth of charity and operational experience having previously worked at Cancer Research UK.
Kerrie is a life-long Oxford United supporter and now champions female participation in football with the charities Her Game Too partnership, as well as looking for new initiatives and ways that Oxford United in the Community can support people in Oxfordshire using football.
Alex Blane
With over 17 years of coaching experience, Alex is a seasoned professional who holds both the UEFA B Licence and the FA Youth Award. His coaching journey spans grassroots environments to Academy settings, allowing him to build a deep understanding of player development at all levels.
Alex joined Oxford United in the Community in 2010 as a sessional coach, progressing to a full-time role in 2017 as Community Coach. Since then, he has held various positions, including Lead Coach and Development Centre Manager.
Currently serving as Football Development Manager, Alex oversees the entire Football Development Programme, which includes the Elite Development Centre for boys aged 7-16 and girls aged 9-16, as well as crucial pathway building to the Academy to secure a strong future for Football Development within the Community.
Throughout his tenure, Alex has coached across nearly all of Oxford United’s community programmes, bringing a wealth of experience and expertise to his role. He also holds an L3 NVQ Diploma in Supporting the Delivery of Physical Education and School Sport, further complementing his commitment to youth development and community engagement.
Mark Thomas
Mark joined Oxford United in the Community in February 2022 as the Social Inclusion Lead, having previously worked for Oxford United in the Community as a Sessional Coach.
Mark holds a number of Football Coaching Qualifications, as well as a number of Youth Work related qualifications to really help support young people in wider life.
Mark leads a range of community-based projects such as Premier League Kicks, Inclusion Football and Refugee Football whilst particularly focussing on ensuring participants who may previously have been socially excluded for a range of reasons are given access and opportunities to take part.
Mark is also a member of the Oxfordshire FA Inclusion Advisory Group, which support equality and inclusion throughout Oxfordshire.
Email:[email protected]
Rob Porter
Rob is a UEFA B license and FA youth award coach, who has coached for Oxford United in the Community since 2017, and became a full-time member of the team in 2023, when he took over the role as Lead Community Coach.
Rob has a wealth of coaching experience in a variety of different coaching environments. He has experience as a grassroots coach, in a development centre, first team football, and as an academy coach for the Oxford United Girls academy where he also held the position of Foundation phase lead.
Within his role with Oxford United in the Community, Rob leads the Holiday Camp programme, manages coach recruitment and development, and delivers on a range of programmes including the Twinning Project where he delivers coach education to inmates at HMP Bullingdon.
Rob is also an FA approved CPD tutor who delivers events for the Oxfordshire FA, as well as holding a Women and Girls Community Champion role for the FA.
Email:[email protected]
Cameron Hughes
Profile Coming Soon
Rama Said
Upon completing his degree in Sports Development and Coaching, Rama Said joined Oxford United in the Community in 2022 through the EFL Trust Kickstart Scheme and is now a full-time Community Coach.
Over this time, Rama has gained valuable experience delivering a wide range of programmes, including Skills Centre, Premier League Kicks, Refugee football sessions, After School Clubs, and Holiday Camps.
In addition to these responsibilities, Rama lead the Life Chances programme, working with young people aged 11-17 in Oxford. This programme focuses on using sport to engage and support participants who may be facing challenges in their lives, helping them to develop both on and off the pitch.
Rama continues to grow as a coach while contributing to Oxford United in the Community’s efforts to positively impact the local area through sport.
Email:[email protected]
Matt Harding
Matt has 26 years’ experience in coaching, starting his career in 1998 having passed his UEFA C and UEFA B (Part 1) and Level 1 in Goalkeeping. In 2024 he has gained the National Goalkeeping Award (UEFA C).
Previous football clubs he has worked for include Rushden & Diamonds, Kettering Town, Wimbledon (now MK Dons) and many grassroots clubs.
Matt has worked for Oxford United in the Community for almost 9 years – first as a Community Coach – then taking the position of Assistant Football Development Manager in 2024 as part of our work to expand our football programmes and opportunities.
Within his role with Oxford United in the Community ,Matt leads the Elite Development Centre (Boys and Girls) on a Monday, Thursday and Friday. He also heads up player recruitment for our Development Centres and Coach recruitment for the post U16 players to give them a pathway into coaching so they stay within Oxford United in the Community as well as continuing to play grassroots football.
Email:[email protected]
Meet Our Patrons
Peter Rhoades-Brown
The charity’s longest standing Patron, Peter Rhoades-Brown, aka ‘Rosie’, played for Oxford United FC from 1984-89, making 142 appearances for the club and scoring 17 goals.
One of the pioneers of the community football initiatives of the late 1980s which became the football charities of today, Rosie is well known across Oxfordshire, not only as a club representative and match day compere, but equally to many who remember his coaching sessions in schools.
Rosie supports the charity in a number of ways, most notably hosting the monthly Manor Club get togethers monthly for the over 55s at the Cowley Social Club.
When the Manor Club was halted due to Covid-19, Rosie immediately offered to get involved in the Manor Club Extra online shows, both as an interviewer and alongside Malcolm Elias in episode two as they explained how the U’s community programme was established in 1989. You can watch here: https://youtu.be/lNQMb8rpGFA
Rosie is currently OUFC’s Business Development Manager in the club’s Commercial Team.
James Constable
James Constable became the charity’s second Patron in March 2019 as Oxford United in the Community celebrated its 30 year anniversary, featuring in the promotional campaign.
James, known as Beano, played for United between 2008 and 2014 and scored 106 goals, making him the club’s all-time second highest goal scorer. As Patron, James shares his expertise and helps shape and support initiatives where appropriate, in particular being interviewed as part of the recent Tackling Loneliness Together project in the launch edition of Manor Club Extra which you can watch here: https://youtu.be/46z_oRryJnc
James said: “It was an absolute honour to have been asked to be Patron of Oxford United in the Community and I jumped at the chance. I’ve such fond memories of my career at Oxford and have so many friends there. Community is so important and football clubs have such an opportunity to engage and help people and I’ve always viewed it as a privilege and responsibility. Oxford United in the Community plays a vital role in supporting people in the county and I will be supporting the charity in any way I can.”
Les Robinson
April 2019 saw Oxford United in the Community announce club legend Les Robinson as the third Patron of the charity.
Les, affectionately known as Robbo, played for United for ten seasons between 1990 and 2000 and is sixth in the list of the club’s most appearances. He was club captain and made 459 appearances for the U’s. In 2018 the club held a belated testimonial in recognition of his ten years’ service.
Les is now Assistant Head of Education and Head of PE at Swalcliffe Park School, a school catering for boys with autism just outside Banbury. As Patron, Les supports OUitC’s initiatives and gets involved where he can, including recently joining an Over 70s Virtual Coffee Morning to chat with a lucky fan and being the subject of the third episode of Manor Club Extra which can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/oIGgXEphCW0
Les said: “It was an honour to be asked to be Patron of Oxford United in the Community. Since my testimonial I’ve had the opportunity to re-engage with the club and the supporters and I’ve loved every minute.”
“I’ve so many great memories of my career at Oxford and have so many friends there. The work in the community and schools is vital and makes such a difference. I’m looking forward to making a difference where I can.”
Meet Our Trustees
Jeremy Faulkner
Having spent 4 years as the Chairman of the Oxford United independent supporters group – OXVOX, Jeremy joined the Charity as Chair of Trustees in 2019.
Passionate about all things Oxford United and Oxfordshire, Jeremy now leads the Charities board in its mission to make a positive and lasting difference to people’s lives across our County by utilising the power of football.
With a business career based around food manufacturing, Jeremy is an experienced CEO and has run highly successful multi-million pound organisations with sites across the UK and staffing numbers in the thousands.
A family man (with 7 grandchildren!) and living in Harwell South Oxfordshire, these days, when not involved in the Charity, Jeremy provides Non-Exec Director and Advisory support to small and medium sized business, predominately in the food and drink sector.
With a new Charity Board in place and a rapidly developing new vision, Jeremy is super excited for the future and the impact the Charity will make in our communities.
Jonathan Green
Jonathan is a passionate advocate for community engagement and social change, combining his expertise as a solicitor and leader in data privacy with a strong commitment to making a difference at the grassroots level.
As Director of Privacy Analytics for Europe at IQVIA Ltd, Jonathan spearheads initiatives that safeguard personal information while maximizing the value of data to improve health outcomes. Jonathan’s dedication to transformative impact extends beyond his professional role.
Jonathan has worked on critical programmes such as the UK Government’s National COVID Infection Survey and worked extensively with football club charities across England to tackle the issue of youth exploitation in county line drug markets.
His background in leading impactful projects ensures he brings valuable insights and strategic leadership (as our Vice-Chair) to the charity’s work. A long-standing public health and education supporter, Jonathan is completing a doctorate focused on successfully delivering public health programmes.
As a trustee of Oxford United in the Community, he is committed to our mission to inspire happier, healthier, and more connected communities.
Kath Parker
Kath is born and bred in Oxford, leaving eventually to go to University in Hull to study Geography and Sociology.
Kath then went on to qualify an an accountant, spending her whole professional career with Wellers, based mainly in their London office.
Kath is now retired and keeps her accounting skills alive through her role as Treasurer. She is very passionate about the charity and the impact it can make on the lives of the local community.
Now when time allows, she enjoys travelling with her husband, keeping fit and is hoping to improve her Spanish so she can make a long anticipated visit to Argentina.
Tim Williams
Tim Williams is the Chief Executive Officer of Oxford United Football Club. He started his career with KPMG qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1996. Following a career in industry which took him from FTSE 100 business United Utilities to global Advertising Agency McCann Erickson he joined Manchester United in 2009 as Group Financial Controller. He subsequently spent 5.5 years as the Chief Financial Officer of Italian football club Inter Milan from 2015.
Following a period of time in London with sports capital and advisory firm Tifosy he joined Oxford United in October 2022.
He sits on the Advisory Board for the Manchester Metropolitan University Business School.
Tim is passionate about the reach that football can provide in terms of community involvement and health and wellbeing as well as it being an inspiration to those to strive for better.
Louise Gregory
Born and raised in Oxford, Louise is a Director of local Oxford family business Gregory Surveyor’s Ltd. She is also a Parent Governor at a SEN school, with a professional work background in Health and Safety, including at Oxford University for over 15yrs.
Louise supports and runs regular events for charities’ in the local Oxford Business Community, and heads up our Events & Fundraising sub-committee.
Other interests include running and photography. Having a parent and career role in day to day life and a business to run, there are lots of core values to bring to the Charity to make a positive impact and voice for all of the community to be represented.
Mark Lygo
Profile coming soon
Stuart Bradney
Stuart, his wife and 4 children have lived in Oxfordshire for over 10 years. He grew up in Oxfordshire before going to Cardiff for university and subsequently moving to London for work. Stuart continues to work in London and Oxford where he owns and runs an real estate finance brokerage and advisory business. His interests outside of family is business, sport and travel. He is a keen runner and cyclist and has undertaken a number of events for charity. The primary reason for Stuart’s involvement in OUitC is to make a positive impact in the community in which his daughter and 3 sons live.
Ian Hudspeth OBE
Ian is a retired small businessman, married with one daughter.
He has served at Parish, District, and County Council level, having first become involved in local government 20 years ago, serving as Chairman of Bladon Parish Council, and Cabinet Member for Health and Community Safety at West Oxfordshire District Council.
Ian was a County Councillor from 2005 to 2021, he joined the Cabinet in 2007 with responsibility first for transport, then for growth and infrastructure. In May 2012 he was elected Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, a position he held until he left the council in May 2021.
Ian watches Oxford United as often as his diary permits, including travelling to away games as far as Plymouth & Morecambe.
Ian believes the charity empowers and inspires OUFC’s fans, their families, and their communities to fully participate, reach their full potential and achieve their dreams.