“I think he is a manager who can take this club places.”

From County Durham to the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Brett Pitman’s journey on the Eddie Howe express has been some ride.

He started Howe’s first game at Darlington when Cherries were seven points adrift of safety in League Two and was on the bench as they won the Championship at Charlton seven days ago.

The Channel Islander’s exploits during his and Howe’s two spells at Dean Court have been hugely instrumental in the club’s remarkable rise.

And with Cherries having secured promotion to the top flight for the first time, Pitman could be on the threshold of penning a unique chapter in the club’s history.

A taste of the big time next season would see Pitman became the first player to feature for the Dorset club in all four divisions of the English leagues.

“It would be very special,” said Pitman, Howe’s first signing of his second spell when he rejoined Cherries, initially on loan, from Bristol City in November 2012.

“I played in the manager’s first two games as caretaker and scored when we beat Wycombe in his first game as permanent boss.

“It has certainly been some journey. If anyone had said back then that we would be in the Premier League six years later, I think the men in the white coats would have taken them away!

“It just shows what has been achieved and what can be achieved with hard work. There are people behind the scenes who deserve a lot of credit, like Maxim the owner, and we are delighted to have done it for them.

“We have enjoyed the celebrations and will enjoy the summer. Then, the hard work will start again for what promises to be a great period in the club’s history.

“Having worked my way through from the youth team, it would be something else to represent the club in the top flight and at every level.

“We know it is going to be tough but these are the challenges you should relish as a player. It will be up to everyone to prove they are good enough for the Premier League, including me.”

Had it not been for Pitman’s contribution during the early years of the Howe era, it could have been a different story for Cherries.

He led the goal charts during the Greatest Escape in 2009 and completed a hat-trick of Dean Court golden boots after finishing as top scorer in the 2010 and 2013 promotion campaigns.

Pitman, who joined Cherries as a 15-year-old, netted 13 goals in 34 appearances in the Championship and became the club’s fourth all-time leading league marksmen when he plundered a hat-trick in the 4-0 win over Blackpool in March.

“A lot of players don’t get any promotions during their careers so to get three in five years has been amazing,” said Pitman.

“I don’t think this one is going to sink in for a while. It just seems different to the other two and that is probably because the prize is so big.

“People will probably write us off next season but we have been used to that. We were tipped to go down with the 17-point deduction in 2009 and nobody thought we would climb from fourth-bottom to finish runners-up in 2013.

“Lots of people kept saying we would slip away this season and, even right up to the last day, they were predicting we wouldn’t win the title.

“When I came back here, I remember saying I thought the manager would take us places. I think it is fair to say he has!”