Kassam Stadium visit a rare one for Reds

Monday 16 February 2026 14:40

Manchester United have never played a competitive senior game at the Kassam Stadium but our Under-18s have an FA Youth Cup tie at Oxford United's home on Wednesday.

The 18:00 GMT kick-off is live on MUTV as Darren Fletcher's side look to set up a quarter-final date with either Sunderland or Brighton & Hove Albion.

Remarkably, Fletcher is one of only three Reds to score a first-team goal for us at the ground and, again, the MUTV cameras were there to capture it as it happened.

The other two men on the scoresheet in a 2006 pre-season friendly were Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Cristiano Ronaldo, who netted twice.

Ronaldo silences the boos Video

Ronaldo silences the boos

Our only first-team game at the Kassam Stadium was Cristiano's reappearance after the 2006 World Cup fracas...

There was a particularly hostile reception awaiting Ronaldo, after his involvement in Wayne Rooney's red card at the World Cup and the infamous wink to the bench when his club team-mate was dismissed for a stamp on Portugal's Ricardo Carvalho.

Despite the boos on his first outing since the incident in Germany, it was typical of our brilliant no.7 to not let it bother him, as he hit a double against the Conference outfit, before being replaced by Giuseppe Rossi, with his first a thumping drive.

Ronaldo also set up a stunning opener for Solskjaer, with a chest pass, before Fletcher fired in from outside the box to make it 3-0. Rob Duffy pulled one back but Ronaldo finished off a David Jones pass, in the second half, to seal a 4-1 victory from a good workout for Sir Alex Ferguson's men.

"It was Cristiano's first game back and I thought he handled it very well," said Ferguson afterwards.

"He took his goals very well. They were both great strikes and he got a terrific reception from the United supporters as well and, all in all, he did very well."

Sir Alex's first-ever game in charge of United was away to Oxford, at the Manor Ground, their previous stadium. It ended in a 2-0 loss, with John Aldridge converting a penalty and Neil Slatter doubling the lead to ensure a miserable start to life at the club for our legendary boss.

Overall, we have had 16 competitive first-team fixtures with the now-Championship club, the last of which was a 4-1 win at Old Trafford in January 1989.

Captain Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Cristiano Ronaldo at the Kassam Stadium in 2006.

Our last visit to the Manor Ground yielded a 2-0 triumph, with Viv Anderson and Gordon Strachan scoring in the first half.

There was another game at the Kassam Stadium in 2010, a pre-season fixture for the Reserves, which finished 2-1 in the Reds' favour.

Solskjaer was in charge of the team, this time, as his fellow Norwegian Magnus Eikrem made up for missing a penalty by firing home a free-kick. 

James Constable levelled for Chris Wilder's men, only for Nicky Ajose to snatch a winner in injury time.

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