THE Oxford Mail secured a notable success at the 2019 Midlands Media Awards.

A special production marking Oxford United's 125-year anniversary was named supplement of the year at the ceremony held at Villa Park.

Sports editor Mark Edwards received the trophy on behalf of the group who put together the 124-page publication.

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There was further cause for celebration when the sportsdesk were highly commended in the team of the year category, where they came up against rivals all of whom had many more resources at their disposal.

When awarding the paper with their accolade, the judges commented: "The 124-page publication, painstakingly created by a three-man team in their own time to mark the 125th anniversary of Oxford United, would be treasured by its readers."

Edwards was thrilled to collect the trophy and paid tribute to the team behind the production.

"We are all absolutely delighted," he said.

"Originally we were looking at an in-paper publication, but this soon snowballed into a substantial, glossy magazine.

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"It took a lot of hard work and commitment, but the end result was something we were enormously proud of."

He added: "It's a great feeling when your efforts are rewarded with an honour like this.

"Sales were great, the feedback from Oxford United supporters was amazing and to cap it with an award makes all our efforts even more worthwhile."

The paper's Oxfordshire Limited Editon was also shortlisted for the magazine of the year award.