Shaun Goater is calling on the Bermuda Football Association to allow him and fellow pros Kyle Lightbourne and David Bascome to help them push the Island?s soccer team forward.

Goater, now a national icon following his repeated success at Manchester City, believes between them the three players have enough knowledge and experience to warrant the establishment of a steering committee to try and bring the Island?s international standing to the next level.

And the frontman, who bagged a brace on his international return against Nicaragua last month, believes now is the time to capitalise on the increased interest in the sport due to the ongoing World Cup campaign.

?1992 was a great year for Bermuda, an incredibly successful World Cup campaign,? said Goater, who was unable to join the current Central American tour due to commitments with Reading, where the play-offs remain an outside hope.

?But I don?t think we made enough of the fever that surrounded it and as a football nation we have stayed still since then. It was a good opportunity to really take things on, but it was wasted.

?Since then a lot of our competitors in the region have progressed and developed, but we haven?t really done that. Up until recently we were probably not even at the 1992 level, but now we have been playing a lot of games, things have improved.

?I don?t think we can afford to make that sort of mistake again. When I came back for the Nicaragua game I felt that fever again and we need to make the most of it while we can and try and propel Bermuda forward to reach the heights of teams like Jamaica.

?We have a large pool of knowledge and experience now, more than ever before, and we need to utilise it for the good of Bermuda.?

And Goater feels that now is the time to make the most of the skills and contacts available while the pros are either still playing, or only very recently retired.

?In three to five years time there may not be any of us playing top flight football with this experience and it would be a shame to let our knowledge go,? he continued.

?Now is the time to make the most of this opportunity. It is really up to the BFA, but I would like to see them set up some kind of committee with me, Kyle and David (Bascome) on it.

?We could meet whenever we are all back on the Island and try and help out to ensure that we can take Bermuda football as far it goes.

?There is a lot of support for the football at the moment because of the World Cup and we need to make the most of it with the youngsters, with sponsors and other teams in the region.

?It would be a shame not to make the most of what we have here.?

Goater, Lightbourne and Bascome together formed Bermuda?s best era for foreign professionals, following in the footsteps of Clyde Best, who paved the way for Islanders abroad during his time with West Ham.

In the new generation, stirker John Barry Nusum, who scored twice in the second game against Nicaragua, is playing for the Toronto Lynx in Canada while Kevin Richards, on the books of the Colorado Rapids, is just out of Notre Dame College.

Goater, who will suit up again for Kenny Thompson?s men in the second qualifying round for Germany 2006 against El Salvador over two legs in June, is passionate about putting something back into the sport here and already runs the Grassroots Festival ? the second instalment of the annual event begins at the end of May.