HE chased Mark Lawrenson out of the manager’s office, made Billy Whitehurst look for an imaginary tortoise and even waved a replica gun at Paul Tait.

Terry Gordon fooled countless Oxford United players and staff in the 1980s and 1990s as his hilarious pranks made him a dressing room favourite.

The practical joker died last month after a short illness and his funeral will be held at Oxford Crematorium at 2pm today. He was 76 years old and lived in Northway.

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In a measure of Gordon’s standing among players of a certain era, legends including John Aldridge, Jim Magilton and Paul Moody have sent messages of goodwill to his loved ones since he passed.

“It warms the heart when you’re going through a tough moment,” said his son, Dean.

“It’s still very raw and will be for a long time, but it’s nice to reminisce and put a smile on our faces.

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Terry Gordon with Oxford United legend John Aldridge

“We’re going through a difficult period of grieving, but we can look back on fond memories.

“The other day I was going back through photos of him from the 1980s. Jim Smith was a great friend and there are pictures of him with Robert Maxwell, who probably fell foul of a prank.”

Gordon was part of United’s youth set-up before going on to represent the likes of Oxford City, Abingdon Town and Witney Town.

He played under Ron Atkinson at the west Oxfordshire outfit as the former U’s captain began a coaching career that would see him manage the likes of Manchester United and Aston Villa.

It was not the last time Gordon met a club legend and his friendship with Peter Rhoades-Brown got him in with the squad in the 1980s.

“Any time there was a new player, my dad would get a phone call asking him to come and wind them up,” Dean explained.

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Terry Gordon sends Oxford United players running for cover

There are dozens of tales of the United fan’s high jinks, like when he pranked Whitehurst the day he joined the club in 1986.

The striker was stopped in the car park by the practical joker, who told him he had ‘lost his tortoise’ as he tried to hold back the tears.

Gordon took Whitehurst by the hand and they walked around trying to ‘find’ the pet, before the bemused hardman’s new teammates revealed it was a wind up.

The prankster’s jokes left countless U’s players rolling around with laughter, but he was the one in stitches when he fooled Paul Tait after the midfielder signed from Birmingham City in 1999.

Dean said: “My Dad came marching across the pitch with a Russian hat, a replica gun and pretend bottle of wine.

“Tait ran away and came back with a golf club – I think he thought his days were numbered.

“He was that scared he swung the club and my Dad was left with four stitches in his hand, so his pranks didn’t always end well.”

In 1988, Gordon burst into Lawrenson’s office accusing the U’s manager of ‘having an affair’ with his wife, having ‘mistaken’ the boss for lookalike David Fogg.

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Mark Lawrenson was one of countless players and staff fooled by Terry Gordon

Gordon then chased the ex-Liverpool defender in apparent fury, with defender Fogg among those watching on gleefully.

The U’s supporter even fooled stars such as George Best, Gary Lineker and Paul Gascoigne during his glory days, striking up a friendship with the latter.

Gazza even got Gordon into the Wembley dressing room before a game against Turkey in 1992, where he agreed to prank manager Graham Taylor.

The prankster told the Oxford Mail in 2017: “I pretended I was a nutter. I asked him what he was doing at Wembley and he said ‘I’m here for the football’. So I asked ‘what position do you play?’ and he said ‘I’m the England manager.’

“While I was talking to him I had a hold of his hand and I would not let go.

“He tried to pull his hand away and I pretended to get really angry and go to hit him - Gazza was on the floor of the England dressing room laughing his head off.”

There was never any malice in Gordon’s pranks and he held a special place in the England legend’s heart.

Dean, who now lives in Belfast, ran into Gascoigne last year and the ex-Tottenham Hotspur midfielder remembered his father, asking to speak to him on the phone

“Everyone who met my Dad has a story to tell,” said Dean.

“My Dad thrived on making people laugh and that was the bottom line. He didn’t want to be the centre of attention.”

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Gordon died on April 29 and is survived by his wife Diane, son Dean and grandchildren Yasmin and Ben.

He was a bubbly character right until the end of his life.

Dean said: “He was never doing it for himself, he just wanted to make us laugh.

“Even the doctors and nurses were saying what a character he was.”

Gordon’s popularity means there should be plenty of well-wishers paying their respects today.

Dean said: “I would love a big turnout for my Dad. I think a few people are flying over from Belfast.

“They asked us for a picture for the funeral and I found a newspaper cutting of him wearing an Oxford United hat, fake glasses and two scarves.

“The caption says: ‘Watch out, Terry’s about’.”