Crawley football coach off to join Beckham in LA

A GRASS-ROOTS football coach is stepping into the bright lights of LA to bend it with Beckham.

Andy Bridgman, 28, will say goodbye to his teammates at Furnace Green Rovers and hello to the stars of LA Galaxy, as he sets off to start a glittering new coaching career.

The lifelong football fan, of Sheppey Close, Broadfield, was head-hunted by a coaching scout at Major Soccer League, the American equivalent of the Premier League, who wanted him to go over to Hollywood to help out.

Andy, who currently works as a PCSO in Horley, said it was too good an opportunity to miss.

He said: "At first I thought it's not real. How many people get this kind of opportunity? Not only to play football full-time but also to work alongside the top teams in America? It's fantastic.

"David Beckham is arguably one of England's greatest football players and the chance to be coaching him was just too good to miss."

LA Galaxy was famously the team that then England captainBeckham joined in 2007.

He is still contracted to play there in the summer months, thanks to a deal the US club has struck with AC Milan, where Beckham is currently on loan.

However, the move is sure to upset some of Crawley's finest footballers, who will be bidding farewell to their coach.

Andy said: "I think the team at Furnace Green will miss me when I go, but they probably won't say it to me to be honest.

"I play at the club as well so I will definitely miss it.

"In all honesty I wouldn't have left for anything other than this opportunity."

Andy used to coach the Crawley-based team County Oak six years ago, and when the team stopped, he started coaching Furnace Green Rovers.

He passed his level two Football Association coaching qualification in November.

Andy added: "Over here we have a very high standard of coaching, and over in America they love that. That's why they come over here to look for coaches."