Oxford United‘s Will Vaulks has spoken about the reasons why he chose to join the club over renewing his deal at Sheffield Wednesday.
The 30-year-old departed Hillsborough this summer after accepting terms to join the League One play-off winners and will link up with his new side at the start of July. He won Wednesday supporters’ Player of the Season with his three assists from 34 appearances as the Owls avoided the drop in the Championship.
A full Wales international, the midfielder joined the South Yorkshire club from Cardiff City in July 2022, making just shy of 100 appearances in the two years he spent at the club. It was the first club he made less than a century of features for since he left his hometown club of Tranmere Rovers in 2013.
Vaulks is the first player through the door at the Kassam Stadium as the U’s embark on their first season back in the second tier since 1999. Des Buckingham’s side outplayed favourites Bolton Wanderers at Wembley to join Derby County and Portsmouth as the three sides going up from League One.
Speaking to the Oxford Mail, the former Rotherham United player revealed why he chose to join Oxford this summer. He said: “I was so impressed by the plan that the club has, and I wanted to be a part of that, so if I was going to move down to Oxford and commit to the football club, and likewise the club could commit to me, then both parties felt right that it was longer term.
“The club’s going in the right direction, and I want to be a part of it, and the club wants me to help them go in the right direction. At my age, I wanted to have a club that I could feel settled at, and not be moving every year.
“It’s about my family as well. I don’t want my family to be moving all the time. I want to go and commit to playing for a club.”
Writer’s View
Will Vaulks is a great start to Oxford United’s business in this window. He will come into the club having experienced a relegation dogfight with Sheffield Wednesday last season and will be able to draw on that experience should the U’s be in that conversation. With Rotherham he also made the same leap up from League One to Championship football so will be able to guide those of his teammates who are new to the league through that obstacle.
Vaulks will help fill the void left behind by James Henry’s departure after his contract expired. Joining a team with brilliant midfielders in Cameron Brannagan and Ruben Rodrigues, Oxford United look to have sorted that position very nicely going into next year, but adding a little more depth for a gruelling campaign wouldn’t hurt in the slightest.
Football journalist with The Real EFL since 2023. A 2024 Multimedia Journalism graduate from the University of Salford, Lewis specialises in Salford City FC and EFL coverage.
