The club have a number of celebrity supporters, including Richard Branson, Timmy Mallett, Tim Henman and Jim Rosenthal. The club's mascot is Ollie the Ox. United were the best-supported club in the Conference National before Luton Town joined the division, and the home match between Oxford and Luton, which drew a crowd of 10,600, was used to highlight the passion for English football during the 2018 World Cup bid. In 2009, a "12th man fund" was set up by a group of supporters in order to provide additional transfer funds to the club. As a result, the number 12 shirt was retired at the start of the 2009–10 season (though it was reintroduced in 2018–19). The fund raised over £40,000 and resulted in the signings of Mehdi Kerrouche (on loan) and Jamie Cook, amongst others.