Oxford United have been pushing for promotion to the Championship for the majority of season.

It remains a real possibility and there is no more nerve-wracking a time for fans other than this end of season run-in.

So, to help take your mind off the stress, here are eight interesting facts about the club you may not have known...

Despite being founded in 1893, Oxford United have only been known as such since 1960.

For the 70 years prior to that, they were officially known as Headington United. They were renamed in order to give their club a higher profile.

Many fans will say that 'football is their religion', or something equally cringeworthy, but Oxford United would not be here were it not for a church.

A reverand and a vicar at St. Andrew's Church in Headington joined up with a local doctor to found the club at the end of the 19th century.

Back in the 80's, Robert Maxwell proposed that United merge with local rivals Reading in order to form a new club called The Thames Valley Royals.

Unsurprisingly, it never happened.

Back in 2001, shortly after The Kassam Stadium opened, the club called in some unusual help after a slow start to their season.

A bishop was brought in to carry out an exorcism on the ground, saying that a malicious force had been contributing to the side losing 13 of their first 17 league matches.

Oxford boast a handful of famous fans including Tim Henman, Timmy Mallet and Jim Rosenthal.

But the biggest is undoubtedly billionaire business man Richard Branson.

Swindon Town remain one of Oxford's biggest rivals to this day.

Back in 2011 it hit new heights with Swindon vandals breaking into the Kassam Ground and burning their initials into the pitch.

Linking back to the earlier fact regarding the potential merger with Reading, it is safe to say it was not popular.

During the height of the rumours, a host of Oxford fans took to the pitch ahead of their clash with Wigan Athletic and began a sit-in protest.

Oxford fans may have heard them refer to Swindon Town fans as Moonrakers, but you might not know why.

It all links back to a rumour which stated that Swindon fans had once tried to use a rake to remove the reflection of the moon from a local pond.