Middlesbrough first confirmed as League One campaign is wrapped up at Wembley

Middlesbrough face a first competitive trip to the Kassam Stadium next season, with Oxford United securing promotion to the Championship.

The U's, featuring ex-Boro man Marcus Browne, beat Bolton Wanderers at Wembley on Saturday in the League One play-off final to secure their spot in next season's Championship. A first-half brace from Josh Murphy sealed the famous win for Oxford as they secured their place in the second tier for the first time since 1998-99.

Boro were back in the Premier League that season after promotion the year before for Bryan Robson's side, which was the last time they visited Oxford in a competitive game. Robson's side won 4-1 in October 1997 at what was then the U's home of Manor Ground.

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As such, with Oxford moving to the Kassam Stadium in 2001, Boro's trip to Oxford next season will be a first for them at the Kassam Stadium. It's known for it's distinctive feature of only having three stands, with the end behind the goal just a small wall that backs onto a car park for the location's accompanying leisure and retail complex. In total, the Kassam has a capacity of 12,500.

As it happens, however, Oxford don't plan on being there for much longer. The club have had planning documents approved to build a new 16,000-seat stadium to open for the start of the 2026-27 campaign. They don't own the Kassam and their lease is up in 2026, hence the move.

Boro and Oxford have met once since the 1997-98 campaign, but it was at the Riverside. In an FA Cup fifth-round tie in 2017, Boro ran out 3-2 winners with Grant Leadbitter, Rudy Gestede and Cristhian Stuani scoring the goals that day.