Saturday, April 7, 1984 – signed in March from Newport County, striker John Aldridge made his Oxford United debut on this day in 1984.
The striker came on as a substitute in a 1-0 win over Walsall, where Peter Rhoades-Brown netted the only goal of the game. The win was the club’s 24th victory of the campaign and their tenth success on the road – two club records which had been set on the way to promotion from the Third Division.
Oxford ended the season as champions and would go on to record back to back promotions after winning the Second Division the following season.
Aldridge, who joined the U’s from Newport County for £78,000, netted his first goal a few weeks later in a 5-0 win over Bolton Wanderers. From 141 appearances, the striker netted 90 goals, including a club record number of goals for a single season after scoring 34 times as the U’s secured promotion to Division One in 1985.
He was also part of the side that won the 1986 Milk Cup final at Wembley and netted five goals en route to the final. In Division One, the striker scored 23 goals in 39 games as Oxford avoided the drop.
Aldridge was also the first U’s player to score four hat-tricks and was later sold to Liverpool for £775,000 – a club-record sale at the time.
