OXFORDSHIRE football will unite at the Kassam Stadium tomorrow to say ‘thank you’ to Micky Lewis.

Dozens of Oxford United and Oxford City legends will join special guests at the ‘One for the Road’ charity match (3pm), which will raise funds for the stalwart’s family following his death in March, aged 56.

The first half of tomorrow’s game will see a squad of United legends, many of whom played with Lewis during his 351 appearances for the club, face an ‘Oxford City All Stars XI’.

Among those set to feature is Mike Ford, who was a teammate for almost ten years.

Yet the former captain’s first memory of Lewis came not at The Manor Ground, but in a youth fixture when they were apprentices at Leicester City and West Bromwich Albion respectively.

“He ran the show,” said Ford.

“I walked away thinking: ‘what a player’.”

After retiring from playing, the pair were both on the staff around the turn of the century and time on the grass pitches morphed into hours of head tennis in the gym after training.

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Countless former teammates will line-up tomorrow and Ford says it is a mark of the man.

He added: “The amount of players that want to be there is an indication of how well he was thought of.

“Every single person liked him and we just want to say ‘thanks’.

“He brought people together when he was around and he’s still doing it now.

“There will be people there with parents and grandparents who don’t know about the players from my era.

“I just want them to walk away knowing the person Micky was and what he stood for.”

Lewis left United in the early 2000s and had spells at Oxford City and Abingdon Town, while he began an 18-year spell coaching the Oxford University side.

He returned in 2007 and was Chris Wilder’s assistant when the U’s won promotion back to the Football League three years later.

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The former U’s boss will take charge of a ‘Class of 2010’ side against the university in the second half tomorrow.

Wilder said: “It’s going to be a special day and there’ll be a lot of happy stories going around the place.

“One thing Micky did was tell a story, and he made memories.

“The players of my period all have the same opinion about Mick, as did everybody in and out of the game.”

Lewis left United in 2015, but was later head coach of City’s Velocity football and education programme.

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U’s Women captain Lauren Haynes heads up the female section and will play for the City All Stars – having led out her side in their derby against Swindon Town at midday.

She said: “He was just the most incredible human being, he made every day very easy.

“We spend so much time invested in football, with all this pressure, but the pinnacle of it is enjoyment and Micky really summed that up.

“He took the power of football and changed so many people’s lives, on and off the pitch.”