Bernard "Bunny" Oxley (16 June 1907 – 7 January 1975) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

, before becoming a coach and manager.

Career

Having played for his village team Whitwell Old Boys, Oxley signed amateur terms with Chesterfield as an eighteen-year-old in October 1925. Turning professional the following December, Oxley made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

debut at the end of the 1925–26 season he spent two seasons as a first-team player before attracting the attention of

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

. The Blades signed Oxley in May 1928 for £1,350 and initially employed him on the right wing but later selected him in a number of attacking positions. He initially formed a strong partnership with Jack Pickering at the start of the 1929–30 season but an operation for appendicitis saw Oxley miss a large number of games. Eventually returning to the first team Oxley's form was inconsistent and he eventually lost his place in 1932. Oxley remained at United for two more seasons, mainly playing in the reserves, and was eventually sold to cross-town rivals

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

for £1,000 in May 1934. Unable to find a regular starting place with his new club Oxley moved again to

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

for £600 in September 1935 and again to

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

in June 1936. Oxley's career was revived at County and he featured regularly, helping the side win the Third Division (North) title in 1936–37 season. Dropping into non-league in 1938, Oxley spent a brief time as player-manager with

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. The team play in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History Previous clubs The club claims it w ...

before signing as player-coach with Scunthorpe and Lindley United in November 1938. In 1939 Oxley moved to The Netherlands to coach football and cricket and was appointed coach at

HVV Den Haag HVV (Haagse Voetbal Vereniging; Dutch for The Hague Football Club) is an amateur football club in The Hague, Netherlands. It was founded in 1883 as an extension of HCC, (The)'' Hague Cricket Club''. In 1978, on the occasion of the club's cent ...

but was forced to flee in 1940 following the German invasion. Returning to England Oxley spent some time playing with Wombwell Athletic before being appointed manager of

in 1947 after which he acted as a scout for

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

Personal life

Born in

Whitwell, Derbyshire Whitwell is a village in the Bolsover District of Derbyshire, England. The villages lies close to the Bassetlaw District of Nottinghamshire. The population of the civil parish (including Whitwell Common) taken at the 2021 Census was 3,721 Hi ...

, Oxley was the younger brother of Chesterfield and

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

player Cyril Oxley. Returning to England during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Oxley worked for the Worksop Fire Service and continued in the role after the end of war.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oxley, Bernard 1907 births 1975 deaths People from Whitwell, Derbyshire Footballers from Derbyshire English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Chesterfield F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Worksop Town F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Worksop Town F.C. managers Wombwell Town F.C. (1940s) players English Football League players Leyton Orient F.C. non-playing staff English football managers HVV Den Haag managers 20th-century English sportsmen