Bermuda by English soccer team, Walsall, next month can be confirmed.

Even though Bermudian striker Kyle Lightbourne would be a major drawing card, the fact that tours by some top English teams have not been financially successful in the past could make Bermuda Football Association cautious about bringing in the Third Division club.

"I think people would like to see Kyle coming in,'' said local coach Jon Beard, who has been looking into the possibility of Walsall playing here at the end of their season.

"They (Walsall) also have two Northern Ireland internationals, an international from Cameroon and an international from Sierra Leone, so I think people would like to see it.'' The postponement of Walsall's crucial match with Bury last night, which will now take place next Thursday, has ruled out Walsall arriving on the first proposed date, May 4. Beard didn't think it would be feasible for Walsall to now come in before the end of May, after the Third Division play-off final which is scheduled for May 27.

"I'm trying to do something and the dates keep changing,'' said Beard. "We also need to make sure that the other team they're going to play here are ready to play them.

"It's a question of all those factors having to be decided and being decided quickly. Yes, we would like to see Walsall here, at least I would, and I would like it to be a decent game with good opposition but it's got to be financially viable.

"I don't think they appreciate that it's not easy to make sure we've got two and a half to three thousand people paying money at the National Stadium.'' Beard got involved with the idea of bringing in Walsall after an initial approach was made to the BFA by Mark Georgevic, a lawyer who used to work in Bermuda and has been acting as Shawn Goater's agent. The BFA asked him to look into the costs before a decision was made.

"It has to be made and has to be based on all those variables,'' said Beard.

"It's a question of it all fitting into the right equation.'' Walsall would likely play Bermuda's Under-23 team which is presently preparing for an upcoming Olympic qualifier.

"Walsall play in the same league that Meshach (Wade) and Kentoine (Jennings) were playing in, so it should be at a level that we should be able to compete at for a while. It would be interesting to see where a lot of our players are in comparison with that level of football.'' Beard said even the situation with hotel bookings at the start of the busy season also had to be taken into consideration. With dates still uncertain, it made planning all the more difficult.

"The places that are free are not free until the end of May,'' Beard explained. "British Airways flights are getting booked as well, and you're trying to get 20 seats on an airplane at a decent rate. Everybody's been very good in trying to help but there is only so much people can do.

"Yes, we want to help Walsall and, yes, we think it will be good for them to come in, but there are a lot of other variables.''