AS the Cherries prepare for life in the Premier League, a lifelong fan has shared her memories, including a signed menu from when Manchester United came to Bournemouth in 1957.

Sue Jenkins, who grew up in the town and started going to games with her dad at the age of eight, has kept the signed Highcliff Hotel menu for more than 60 years.

On the back are autographs by eight of the visiting team who played Bournemouth in an FA Cup match, among them Matt Busby and three of the players who lost their lives in the tragic Munich air disaster in February the following year, including captain Roger Byrne.

Sue, who attended the match on March 2, 1957, at the age of 10, was given the menu by her dad James McCulloch, who was head hall porter – a role now known as concierge – at the Highcliff Hotel where the Man Utd team were staying.

As well as the signatures it shows the five course meal on offer to the players the night of the game. The choices, all written in French, include melon, soup and fish courses, followed by ham or chicken for main, and a choice of peach Melba for cabinet pudding for dessert.

After keeping it all those years for her own interest, she saw a newspaper story about a menu signed by the Man U squad devastated by the Munich air crash which sold for £12,000, and took her own menu to be valued when the Antiques Roadshow at Arundel Castle. A specialist estimated it was worth around £250.

But she told the Echo when she parts with it she would like it to go to Eddie Howe, to whom she credits the Cherries' recent success.

She added: “I wouldn’t want any money for it but I would like to give it to him for a Cherries museum if there is one.”

The 68-year-old, a retired postwoman who now lives in Seaford in East Sussex, but still travels to Bournemouth for games when she can, added: “I am elated about the promotion. It’s something that when I was young and all through the years we never thought was possible. I’m sure they will do well with Eddie Howe at the helm, without him they wouldn’t be where they are.”