Tributes have been pouring in to former Oxford United star Hugh McGrogan, who died on Tuesday in a horrific car smash near Bicester. For one U's fan Lynn Farrell, the shocking news brought back a host of happy memories. ANDREW FFRENCH reports...

It was one of the happiest days of Lynn Farrell's life. The 17-year-old had been one of the London Road faithful for two seasons and Hugh McGrogan was her idol.

She had asked the popular player for his autograph on several occasions but on July 22, 1978, after a pre-season open day, she plucked up the courage to follow the striker out of the Manor Ground.

The player stopped his car outside Boots in Headington to buy some toothpaste and Lynn pounced.

Clutching her camera, she got a friend to take a picture of them both and after a brief chat with Hugh allowed him to carry on with his shopping.

"I was walking on air that day," she recalled. "There was no better feeling for a 17-year-old girl than having her photo taken with her heart-throb. "Some of the players would just grunt when you approached them for autographs but Hugh was always really polite."

Lynn, now 37, of Tiddington, near Thame, became a regular at the Manor Ground in 1976 and would stand with her friend Pam Smith behind the goal at the London Road end. "Roy Burton was the keeper and he got to know my friend Pam so well that he would give her a wink as he ran towards the goal at the start of the game," she said.

"We would wait for the players inside the ground to wish them luck before kick-off. "Hugh was a bit of a pin-up and I'm sure there were lots of girls like me who followed him around.

"One day Roy and Hugh invited the two of us into the players' lounge after the game for a drink. It was very kind of them and made us feel so important." Lynn's teen dream came to an end one night when she spotted Hugh out with another girl in an Oxford pub.

"I suppose I had a crush on him and at that moment all my dreams were shattered," she said.

After Hugh was transferred to another club, Lynn and Pam continued to support Oxford United.

"There were other good players but I always felt Hugh was a bit special," she said.

"About 1983, I was heavily pregnant with my daughter Lorna, and Pam and I climbed on to the pitch to protest about Robert Maxwell's plans to merge the club with Reading.

"Lorna came along and it was the last game I went to for some time - the end of an era.

"My daughter now has a crush on England star Michael Owen but I think it will be much more difficult for her to have her picture taken with him. "I was terribly upset when I heard what had happened to Hughie and my heart goes out to his wife and family," she added.

Lynn lives with her husband Peter, 45, daughter Lorna, 15, and son Mark, 13. She recently took Mark to the Manor Ground to watch the Worthington Cup game against Luton.

She said: "As I was watching the game from one of the boxes I half wished I was standing behind the London Road goal. A lot has changed since but they were very happy times."

Mr McGrogan, of Teal Close, Arncott, near Bicester, who played for the club between 1975 and 1980, leaves a wife Karen and two children, Maria, ten and Mark, seven. He was killed when his car hit Blackthorn bridge on the A41.

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