Former Bermuda resident Gwynne Williams admits it will be a wrench to leave his post as New England Revolution goalkeeper coach to become director of coaching at the Alabama Youth Soccer Association (AYSA).

The ex-Mount Saint Agnes PE teacher has been an integral part of Steve Nicol's coaching team at the Gillette Stadium for the last three years and said he would sorely miss "the day-to-day camaraderie" between players and staff.

"I've absolutely loved every moment I've been at the Revolution," said Williams, who starts his new job on Monday. "I've gone to work with a smile on my face and love the people I've been working with.

"I will miss training with the players and the day-to-day camaraderie. It was all business at the right times, and all fun and pleasure at the right times."

Williams arrived in Bermuda in 1979 to take up a job at MSA and went on to play for Hotels and Vasco – teams he was to later coach – while he also worked with the national side.

His only regret during his time at the Revs was missing out on the elusive MLS Cup.

"The biggest disappointment for me was losing the MLS Cup final in my first year with the team. We would have done the double as we had already lifted the US Open Cup.

"For some of the players I was coaching it was the fourth time they had lost in the final, so their disappointment was even greater than mine."

After successfully obtaining US residency through the green card lottery system in 1987, Williams moved to Florida where he spent 11 seasons as the assistant coach at Lynn University in Boca Raton – one of the country's top collegiate outfits.

He was also a member of the United States Soccer Federation's national coaching staff.

His new position as director of coaching at the AYSA, which will see him oversee all adult and youth soccer in the state, was too good an opportunity to turn down, he said

"It's a combination of all I have ever done," said Williams, who has two grown up children Michelle and Oliver, and a two-year-old son called Toby.

"It's just a good fit for all the skills I have acquired so far in my working career. I was approached to do this job and I thought long and hard about it. In the end I decided it was too good an opportunity to turn down at this time in my life."