Ray Harford, who was technical director of Oxford United in November 1999 until he resigned in January 2000, died today of cancer. Harford was 58 years old.

Harford was brought to United by Firoz Kassam to provide some footballing expertise, but he left acrimoniously after complaining that he wasn’t been paid. Harford was ostensbly brought in to give advice to caretaker manager Mickey Lewis, but all he actually did was perform some scouting duties.

Harford’s playing career included a stint at today’s opponents Lincoln, but he will mostly be remembered for the time he spent at Luton, Blackburn and QPR. After leaving Oxford he joined Millwall as first team coach.