SUPPORTING a football team for eight years can have its highs and lows.

Follow one for 80 and there is almost certainly going to be a memorable moment or two.

For 92-year-old AFC Bournemouth fan Eddie Freak his time following the club dating back to the 1930s has been filled with "enjoyment and fantastic football".

Living in Castle Carey, Somerset, Eddie's early experiences involved travelling in the side car of his father's motorbike as an 8-year-old to watch Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic FC.

Moving to the area aged 12, Eddie has followed the team ever since.

"In all the 80 years I've supported them I've only missed games through weddings, funerals and holidays," he said.

"I brought the family into it, starting with Paul as a boy who sat on my knee in the South End.

"Later Jill came along to matches and now my grandchildren as well.

At last month's Carabao Cup tie against Brighton, Eddie was nominated as the fan's champion and delivered the match ball onto the pitch.

It might now be 50 years since the historic FA Cup run of the 1956/57 season, but it remains a cherished time for Eddie, who lists off Freddie Cox's starting XI as if he was reading the teamsheet.

Eddie was an ever-present on the terraces in the journey which saw the side reach the sixth round of the competition, before losing to Sir Matt Busby's Manchester United.

While picking out standout games, he reflects positively on all the highs and what now in the Premier League seem distant lows.

"I've enjoyed every year, it's been fantastic football," Eddie said.

"There's no way you can ever say Bournemouth has dished out bad football whether we won or lost.

"Wembley in 1998 for the final and Cardiff in 2003 were such fantastic occasions for the club.

"Now being in the Premier League is beyond all reason and bigger than we could have ever dreamed.

"It seems so utterly ridiculous when you see the teams we are playing now."

When pressed for just a couple of standout figures from over the years on the pitch MacDougall, Boyer, Blissett, Defoe and Fletcher receive Eddie's seal approve, while it's no surprise for managers his namesake Eddie Howe gets "five stars" closely followed by John Bond and Mel Machin.

Going to as many away games as possible until the age of 79, Eddie now enjoys the stars of the Premier League from the Main Stand with his granddaughter Megan, son Paul, daughter Jill and her husband Paul.

Megan, who has been going to Cherries matches since the age of four, said: "A big part of the match day experience has been enjoying the company of my family.

"After 80 years as a supporter, my grandad is a genuine 'fan's champion'."

Son Paul's earliest memories of an away day with his dad involve a rain-soaked pitch at Burnley, which played host to a 7-0 defeat for Cherries.

Eddie took Paul, who was 13 at the time, out of school for the day of the FA Cup replay in 1966, but following a long drive back he made sure he reported to class the following day.

Jill said thanks to Eddie, football and AFC Bournemouth is in the family's blood.

"It's just how we've been brought up," she said.

"Everyone knows with us not to arrange an event like a wedding when there is a game on because we couldn't possibly be there on a match day."

Hopes of a result on a return to Wembley after 18 years this afternoon? For Eddie it's always a chance when AFC Bournemouth are involved.