FRESH tributes have been paid to "inspirational" former AFC Bournemouth managing director Brian Tiler, as the 25th anniversary of his death approaches.

Mr Tiler was in Italy for the 1990 World Cup with close friend Harry Redknapp when the minibus they were in was hit by a car speeding on the wrong side of the road.

The 47-year-old died in the crash, as did three young Italians who were in the car. Former Cherries manager Harry Redknapp, who had been sat alongside Mr Tiler, suffered serious injuries.

At the time, Mr Tiler and his wife Hazel had just celebrated their silver wedding anniversary. The 25th anniversary of his death comes just shortly after what would have been their golden wedding anniversary.

"I can't believe it's 25 years on and I have now been without him as long as we were together," she said.

"I had such a lovely life with him and it has taken me years to try and build up a new life without him. It is so very hard when you don't get a chance to say goodbye."

The couple had one daughter Michelle, who had a child herself a year after the tragic accident - a daughter called Briony, named after her grandad. Mrs Tiler also now has a great-granddaughter Evelyn.

Mrs Tiler, who has just turned 70, said her late husband was a "larger than life character" who was hugely passionate about AFC Bournemouth. "I used to go to the games and I would be in the boardroom and it would be quiet and subdued until he walked in and suddenly it was buzzing," she said.

"He had a wonderful sense of humour and I miss that dreadfully. He was very quick witted.

"Football was his life, he absolutely loved it. To him the club came first, it was his world.

"It meant such a lot to him and he did such a lot for the club. He worked with the Echo and the council to really try and put it on the map."

The Cherries enjoyed huge success during Mr Tiler's reign, winning promotion to the old second division for the first time ever.

Mr Redknapp said: "Brian was a great character, he had an amazing personality and really brought people into the club. He was brilliant for me as a young manager.

"In our 100 year history we had never been out of the old third and fourth division. We got promoted into the Championship, as it is known now, and we thought that was incredible.

"He would have loved to see the club's success now, for sure."