PETER Flynn was a lifelong football enthusiast and stalwart of Bicester Town Football Club.

A fan, player and referee, he died on November 13 after a short illness.

Born in Dundalk, Southern Ireland, Mr Flynn, who suffered from Alzheimer’s for the past 16 years, was the eldest of nine siblings.

He left Ireland as a young man to find work in London.

During that time he had trials with Charlton Athletic, but was called up for National Service and joined the RAF.

After training he was posted to Bicester, meeting his future wife Jackie Ralph on a blind date. They married in 1960 and had two children Joanna, 49, and Sean, 47.

When Mr Flynn left the military he retrained as a welder in Bicester, later joining Pressed Steel in Cowley, where he was a foreman, and later worked at the Bicester Defence Storage and Distribution Centre.

A worshipper at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, he served as a special constable for several years, and was on grave duty at Sir Winston Churchill’s funeral.

He played regularly for Bicester Town FC as well as the RAF, and was on the team when Bicester won the Hellenic League in 1960.

After he became ill, Mrs Flynn sponsored the Peter Flynn Trophy, a popular football tournament for 13-year-olds organised by the town’s twinning association at the football club.

Mrs Flynn said: “He was a fun loving, handsome bloke. He was a family man, and quite shy. Manchester United was his passion.”

At his funeral last month, the coffin was draped with the flag of Dundalk FC.