Dick Blake is so obsessed with statistics he has kept records of every school playground kickabout he competed in as a youngster.

The 63-year-old retired filing clerk has even hoarded every gas bill dating back to when he and wife Hazel married in 1963.

But he was forced to abandon the vast haul four years ago as it took up too much space at their semi-detached home in Willard Close, Eastbourne.

Football fan Dick admits he has a reputation as an anorak on the terraces of his beloved Eastbourne Borough Football Club, who he has seen score 616 times in 310 games as of February 3, 2002.

That reputation was cemented when he started recording how many times his wife has been to borough games, which stands at 41.

Space at their house is dwindling fast as Arsenal fan Dick's collection of numerically-ordered football programmes soars to more than 10,000.

Eleven large boxes take up a large part of their bedroom full of neatly-piled programmes, receipts and other bits of paperwork, including the £5 receipt for his wedding suit.

Dick, also a fanatical cricket follower, said: "Some people think I'm a nutter but it gives me a buzz to flick through my old programmes or receipts. It conjures up memories for me.

"I suppose it stems back to my time as a filing clerk in Croydon where I was expected to make sure all bits of paperwork were properly in order.

"I've just carried that way of thinking with me all my life. Some people may think it's odd but maybe I am."

At borough games Dick can be spotted wearing a flat cap, raincoat and rucksack which he uses to keep his programme free from the elements.

Club officials say Dick often pops into the Press box on match days to chastise whoever had spelt a player's name wrongly in the programme.

He also gets riled when the timing of a goal is not precisely logged as he wears a stopwatch to every game.

Mrs Blake, 64, a lay preacher, said: "He wouldn't be Dick without his eccentricities. It's in his character."