Des Buckingham has spent ten years travelling the world, incorporating the spirit and culture of Oceania and India into his work, which has only strengthened Des Buckingham’s love for his birthplace.
It shines through as he gives a brisk tour of Oxford United’s training centre, introducing people, pausing to admire the old photographs on the wall and talking about players he used to be fond of.
It comes back to him as he reaches across his desk to a window in his office to show where he used to live. ‘About a quarter mile away.’ He points. ‘Just off the Horsforth Road.’
Those days predate this modern training facility, however. ‘We trained wherever they wanted us, for a while at Bicester and on the fields opposite the BMW factory.’
Buckingham has seen his beloved football club go through some bleak times since first meeting him at the Manor Ground in 1990.
Des Buckingham (pictured) led Oxford to promotion from League One after returning to the club
Buckingham’s eventful journey included his appointment as leader of the city of Mumbai in India
The football manager said Oxford United is ‘very special to the people of Oxford’
“Lots of memories,” he says. “The away end didn’t have a roof, so when it rained their fans got wet, and the slope was about two metres from one end to the other.
‘I went there when I was five years old with my grandmother, who is no longer with us. She was a season ticket holder for many years. She would have loved to have played at Wembley.’ That is Wembley in May and the play-off final win over Bolton, when Buckingham, along with Jim Smith and Denis Smith, were the only managers to have led Oxford into the Second Division of English football.
They have not played at Championship level for 25 years and spent four years in non-league before climbing back up the ladder in 2010. Buckingham’s return to the city and ending his exile was one of the most romantic football stories of the past season.
“This club is very special to the people of Oxford,” the 39-year-old said ahead of Saturday’s season opener against Norwich. “Leading your home team to Wembley is one of the most special feelings you can have in this job, but then seeing the referee put his whistle to his mouth and blow it. Winning. Going up. It took a long time for it to sink in and when it did I realised I had never felt such a powerful feeling before. I hope it’s not the last time.”
Buckingham kept his promise to the supporters at Wembley: if they won, he would publish a photo from the family album showing him aged one, wearing a sombrero and the U scarf, holding a flag of the club that won the League Cup in 1986.
He began coaching as a teenager, working part-time with the Under-9s in Oxford’s youth academy and teaching at Oxford and Cherwell Valley College, before rising to the first-team staff under Chris Wilder.
He then took a leap of faith and joined Wellington Phoenix in 2014. He returned to these shores briefly with Stoke City before returning to New Zealand and on to Australia and India.
“It was nonsense on paper, but it felt right,” Buckingham says. “I wanted to be a head coach and I had no experience of managing budgets and staff. New Zealand offered that opportunity. It was the best decision I ever made.”
As head coach of New Zealand Under-20 team he was enrolled into the esteemed High Performance Sport NZ program, which is designed to accelerate coach development
Joining Wellington Phoenix was the best decision of Buckingham’s (left) life
As head coach of New Zealand Under-20s, he was enrolled in the esteemed High Performance Sport NZ programme, which is designed to accelerate the development of eight elite coaches per year from a range of sports. All Blacks legend Steve Hansen is a graduate of the course, which draws heavily on the traditions and culture of the indigenous Maori people to address identity.
It looks at who they were, what they represented, what came before them and what they wanted to leave behind. A lot of it revolves around concepts of home. Where is it? What does it look like? What does it stand for and how they fell in love with their sport.
“I’ve probably never felt so uncomfortable,” Buckingham recalled, telling the group of strangers about Oxford. He didn’t talk about the magnificent spires and the university, but about his grandmother and the now-defunct Manor Ground.
This laid the foundations for success at the 2019 U20 World Cup, when New Zealand defeated Norway and Honduras en route to the last 16. Christian Penny, creator of the High Performance Sport NZ course, even jumped ship from his duties at the Paris Olympics to address the Oxford players during their pre-season training. Buckingham received further elite coaching education within the City Football Group in Melbourne and Mumbai before being appointed at Oxford in November following the departure of Liam Manning from Bristol City.
‘It was a football decision,’ he insists. ‘I don’t think the fact that it was my hometown club played a huge part. It’s the icing on the cake. More importantly, the club’s plans aligned with mine. Everyone’s aiming to be a sustainable Championship club, eventually a top 30 club that can reposition itself for other things.’
Buckingham coached Sam Long (left) at Under-9 level and the 29-year-old remains at the club
While it will be a challenge, Buckingham hopes Oxford can impress in the Championship
When he returned, he found many familiar faces, including Sam Long, a defender he first trained in the U9s and who is now a regular in the first team.
Proposals for a 16,000-capacity stadium near Kidlington will go before city planners next year, freeing Oxford from the constraints of the less-loved Kassam Stadium, whose lease expires in 2026.
Meanwhile, there is a young coach, ambitious and driven to do well with his home club.
“We’re under no illusions,” Buckingham says. “We’re going to be one of the smallest clubs in this league, but we don’t want to sit back and be ugly. We want people to come and watch. It’s been a long time coming and people are excited.”