Bermuda?s national soccer team will resume training this week ? with new coach Kyle Lightbourne at the helm.

The former pro ? who came out of retirement to play for Kenny Thompson in the recent World Cup campaign ? was unveiled as the part-time manager at a jovial and positive Press conference yesterday.

Lightbourne, who played for nine clubs in 11 years in the UK professional league, replaces Thompson at the head of the national soccer programme after his former international team-mate?s contract expired when Bermuda were knocked out of Germany 2006 qualifying by El Salvador in June.

After months of speculation and the consideration of at least three local candidates, Lightbourne was finally confirmed as the new coach by chairman of Bermuda Football Association?s technical committee Jon Beard with a contract that runs until May next year.

?I?m very delighted with this opportunity,? said Lightbourne, whose playing career which featured spells at Scarborough, Walsall, Coventry, Fulham, Swindon, Hull, Cardiff, Stoke and Macclesfield only finished in the past two years.

?I intend to do a good job and to take Bermuda football to another level. I am going to use all the experience I have picked up in my time in England and try and pass that on to the players here.

?We have a very talented side and I believe we can do great things with them.?

Lightbourne, who has a UEFA coaching licence, will begin training this week with the side and revealed he would be bringing some new faces into the squad, although refused to give away any details at this stage.

He also played his cards close to his chest when it comes to the style or formation Bermuda would use under him, stating only: ?You will have to wait and see out on the field.?

The 35-year-old admitted he would be ?under pressure? in the role due to his as-yet blank coaching CV, but was confident that despite his lack of managerial experience he was more than capable of doing the job.

?Yes, there is pressure, of course there is pressure ? but there is pressure in every job,? continued Lightbourne, also a fearsome cricketer who once famously claimed the wicket of former England captain Mike Atherton in the early 1990s.

?There are going to be people who are excited that I have taken over and there are going to be people who are not excited, but I am happy that I can take this team forward.

?I have spent a lot of time in the English game training and watching how clubs train and that is all fresh in my mind because I only stopped playing so recently.?

Paul Scope, assistant coach at Somerset, has been confirmed as Lightbourne?s assistant with George Hayward appointed as goalkeeper coach while Lynn Lambert will take on the equipment manager role. Daniel Morgan, physio for the national cricket side, has been approached to fulfil a similar role for the soccer team.

Lightbourne?s confirmation in the post puts to an end an uncomfortable few months for the BFA who made their decision against a backdrop of back-biting and tension over Thompson?s axing from the role that many believed he had performed so admirably.

Ever since BFA president Larry Mussenden, currently away with Premier Alex Scott in England, first revealed Thompson?s contract was over after the El Salvador draw at the National Stadium, speculation has been rife as to who would be the replacement.

Thompson stirred up the national squad from its dormant state to lead a campaign which galvanised Bermudian soccer fans who flocked in great numbers to witness Bermuda?s brave warriors take on the might of Central America.

A slew of critical but anonymous letters to aside, Thompson has been roundly praised for his work with the national side during his eight months at the helm and many feel he has been badly treated in not being offered the opportunity to stay on in the job, to which he was appointed on a temporary basis after Gary Darrell?s surprise departure last year.

Thompson, who remains in his full-time post as national youth director, is understood to be upset at the way the situation was handled but has kept a dignified silence throughout the summer months.