Oxford United’s head coach, a former pupil at Our Lady’s Roman Catholic Primary School, paid a surprise visit at the Cowley school yesterday afternoon.

Pupils raised the roof when Buckingham walked into the main hall, clutching the Sky Bet League One play-off final trophy.

The children then gave Buckingham a rendition of their version of Que Sera, Sera, before he took questions from pupils, and was then given mementos made by the children.

United’s boss then took part in a football match on the outside MUGA pitch, and even got himself on the scoresheet.

He said: “I forgot how chaotic playground football can be, but I really enjoyed myself. I wasn’t going through a game of football without grabbing myself a goal.

“Walking into that assembly hall, it was a surprise to the kids, but it hit me. I hadn’t been in that hall for a long, long time.

“To be welcomed with that wave of emotion that hit me coming through the door, when the children saw the trophy, and they were singing that song, that was a very, very special moment for me.”

Our Lady’s headteacher Tara Davies, a U’s fan, was a pupil at the same time that Buckingham was there.

She told the Oxford Mailr: “I keep using the word amazing, but there’s no other word to describe it.

“A lot of the children bought tickets for Wembley, and I saw a couple of families there at the stadium after the match.

“They’d been to the club shop and bought merchandise, and they’ve invested in it so much.

“To then have Dessie come back to his old primary school has just been a day I don’t think any of us will ever forget.