Oxford United apologise for '93' clothing line launched on 9/11 anniversary

Oxford United have apologised and pulled a clothing collection that featured the phrase ‘United 93’ from sale after it was released on the 25th anniversary of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks.

The League One club’s Campus Collection reportedly included an American football top and a baseball jersey marked with ‘United 93’ — the designation of the hijacked United Airlines flight that crashed in a rural field in Pennsylvania after passengers and crew fought back against the hijackers, preventing it from striking a further target believed to be the Capitol Building. Nearly 3,000 people died across the four coordinated attacks that day.

In a statement, the club said: “Oxford United would like to sincerely apologise for the recent launch of the Campus Collection. The range was released without understanding of the historical context and associations. It should not have reached the point of sale and we take full responsibility for not undertaking proper due diligence.”

The club added that the collection had been “removed with immediate effect” and that it was reviewing its approval processes to prevent a repeat of the error.

Oxford noted that the ‘93’ reference was intended to reflect the club’s own history — they were founded in 1893 and earned promotion to the former Second Division in 1993 — but acknowledged that context was insufficient justification for the oversight.

The apology came on the same day that the Archbishop of Canterbury withdrew an award from Muslim cleric Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, which had been presented the previous Friday — also the 25th anniversary of 9/11 — for reconciliation and interfaith work. Lambeth Palace said previous comments made by Ashrafi had come to light that led to the decision to rescind the honour. In 2007, while serving as head of the Pakistan Ulema Council, Ashrafi had declared he would bestow upon Osama bin Laden the title Saifullah, meaning ‘Sword of God’, for ‘serving Muslims by waging jihad against infidels’.