OXFORD United have sold twice as many season tickets in the opening week compared to last year.

More than 1,650 supporters have secured their places to watch Michael Appleton's side in Sky Bet League One.

It is almost half the total sold in the whole of last summer, when prices had fallen.

A surge of new holders explains much of the increase, with 38 per cent of purchases coming from fans who did not hold season tickets last season.

Greig Box Turnbull, United's managing director, said: “It has been an excellent first week and sales have been extremely encouraging.

"The first couple of days were hectic and since then we have had a constant flow of people booking for the new season.

“It has been markedly noticeable how many new season tickets holders there are going to be for the new season; which is absolutely fantastic.

"At the end of the first week we had sold 633 season tickets to supporters who did not have one last season."

United are aiming to surpass 4,000 season tickets before the campaign begins - a figure only achieved three times in the last 15 years.

Existing season ticket holders have until July 1 to renew their seat.