For the second time in four years, Kenny Thompson has been appointed as national football coach on an interim basis by the Bermuda Football Association.

Thompson was first appointed to the top post after Gary Darrell resigned in late 2003 due to “increasing work commitments”.

During his seven-month coaching stint the Cedarbridge Academy teacher guided the national team to inspiring back-to-back victories over Nicaragua at the National Sports Centre (NSC).

Bermuda also nearly qualified for the second round of the FIFA 2006 World Cup qualifiers under Thompson’s watch, going down 4-3 on aggregate against the highly-ranked El Salvadorians at the Sports Centre.

Thompson was officially replaced by Kyle Lightbourne — whose tenure ended last month — in September 2004.

As was the case in 2003, the former Bermuda international midfielder will have to hit the ground running to prepare the national team for a February 23 friendly against Major League Soccer (MLS) powerhouse LA Galaxy and a possible encounter with New England Revolution in a relatively short period of time.

Thompson will remain in the position until the Association appoints a technical director, which is expected to be completed within “the next couple of months”.

“The Bermuda Football Association is pleased to announce that Mr. Kenny Thompson has been appointed as the interim senior national team coach,” local football’s governing body confirmed last night.

“Mr.Thompson will be preparing the senior national team for a friendly match against the LA Galaxy slated for Friday, February 23 at the National Sports Centre and a possible match against the New England Revolution during the same week.

“We extend our best wishes to Kenny and all the players who will be involved in the senior team as we set out to become one of the best teams in the Caribbean, and beyond.”

It was also learned last night that the senior national team could possibly see further action against Canada next month.

“We are presently in discussions concerning possible matches against the Canadian national team in late March having received a request from the Canadian Soccer Association,” the BFA confirmed.

Thompson, meanwhile, said he is pleased to have been re-appointed to the post — albeit on an interim basis.

“I’m quite happy to be working under these circumstances with the current BFA administration. Obviously the long term plan is to hire a technical director. But at this particular time we are just trying to put together a good product for these upcoming matches,” the former BFA youth director said.

“Obviously we don’t have a whole lot of time to prepare ourselves. But we are already in the process of getting players together with the emphasis on putting together a good product for the longer term.”