Oxford United fan Andy Perrin celebrates his win Oxford United have won £50,000 to spend on new players, thanks to die-hard fan Andy Perrin.

Mr Perrin, 51, who has been watching the club since he was nine, appeared live on TV this weekend as it was announced he had won the cash for United.

The Chinnor man said he was "on a high" after learning he had been chosen from among more than two million entries in the Coca-Cola Win a Player competition.

The contest offered fans the chance to win transfer money for new players for their clubs by calling a special hotline.

Mr Perrin, a systems engineer for Thame firm Purite who is an Oxford Mail stand season ticket holder, tried to cast his vote online for United as often as possible.

He said: "When they phoned me up last Wednesday I thought it was someone from work winding me up. But when they sent someone up to Sunderland, where I was working, with a contract to sign, after that it was just such a high.

"I wasn't allowed to tell anyone, but my son and daughter are both supporters and I've got a lot of friends who support Oxford so it was hard to keep it to myself."

Mr Perrin and his wife Susan were collected from their home in Elm Close on Friday night and put up in a five-star hotel in London, before appearing on Sky Sports show Soccer AM on Saturday.

He and two other winners took off their jackets to reveal their club's strip - a Brentford supporter also picked up £50,000 for his club, while 18-year-old student Chantelle Legg won the top prize of £250,0000 for Southampton, plus £10,000 for herself.

Mr Perrin and fellow winner Steve Hearn also collected £1,000 for themselves.

At a time when United face one of the toughest weeks in their history, Mr Perrin hopes the transfer money will help the club's fortunes.

The Coca Cola Leage Two team are struggling against relegation into the Conference, but drew 1-1 in their away game against Wrexham on Saturday giving them a chance to stay up.

Oxford must win their final game, at home against Leyton Orient next Saturday, to prevent them going down, but their opponents are fighting for promotion.

Mr Perrin said: "I've got some strong views about what's happened in the last few years - I think former chairman Firoz Kassam did a hell of a job getting a new ground, but as far as the playing side is concerned he never moved the club on.

"I don't know much about player contracts and who it can buy, but with Jim Smith at the helm I feel far more confident than with managers we've had before.

"I hope the money will help. If they drop out of the league it could still be some use, because there will be some reasonable players who will play in the conference if a club looks like it is going to make a big push. It can be done.

"I think this is the biggest week for Oxford, bigger even than the Milk Cup final 20 years ago - it's our football league status at stake."

The money will be presented to the club this week. Communications officer Chris Williams said: "It's fantastic news for the club. All the fans who voted 16,000 times have done us proud."