Increased expectations, a society that demands instant success, and domestic football that fails to challenge the Island's best players are all obstacles that the Bermuda Football Association will need to overcome in the near future if the Island's national team are to have any chance of improving.

In the second part of a wide ranging interview, outgoing BFA executive John Beard looks back on some of the changes that have occurred during his 30 years in the game, and suggests ways Bermuda's national team might repeat the success of the days of Gary Darrell, Ralph (Gumbo) Bean and Clyde Best.

According to Beard, television, gangs, and a lack of dedication from the players and clubs have all contributed to a drop in standards.

"When I came out in the late 1970s the North Village side was really a teriffic side," said Beard. "Having come from a situation where I was watching professional football, semi-pro and the rest of it, North Village were really a good team and would have done reasonably well in a semi-pro situation (in England).

"And then teams like Hotels came along with good sides, and Vasco, and Devonshire Colts, and there were some very good sides then. But it was different then.

"To watch football on the TV, you got Match of the Day a week late, now you can watch everything live, and I think the spectator expectation has changed. You suddenly expect to walk out onto a field and see something like Barcelona v Real Madrid going on in front of you, and you don't.

"So I think there is that side, and I think there are so many other things in life nowadays. Before there weren't gangs, there wasn't all this nonsense going on, and people were really, as much as you can in amateur football, dedicating themselves to producing a product.

"I'm not saying it doesn't happen now, I'm just not sure there is the consistency and demand for it."

Among Beard's suggestions are an increased involvement from the BFA in the Bermuda Hogges, a realistic approach to players' ability, and a need for players to understand that playing in the Premier Division in Bermuda does not mean you're a good player.

Central to all, however, is a plea for realism, and a recognition that the days of the happy amateur when Bermuda could compete against the likes of the United States are well and truly in the past.

"For me, there were three things I always wanted over the last ten years or more," said Beard. "I wanted an artificial field at BAA, to join the Island Games, and put a team into one of the American semi-pro leagues. Now, I got the Island Games, John Doran, thank God, had the wherewithall to get a field down there, and Kyle (Lightbourne), Scopey (Paul Scope), and Shaun (Goater) got the Hogges.

"So I'm really pleased those three things have happened. Where I would like to see some longevity, is with the Hogges, that's where I think we can go forward. Because it is taking players to another level, I think the Hogges are doing a great job because if you can keep the players in there long enough they are either going to pick up, or they are going to have to get some other players.

"The biggest weakness is we can't play college players in there, because we have some really good 20-year-olds coming back who can't play. So whether there is a need to move into D3, the development league, or what, I don't know, but that is their call.

"The BFA I know has been supportive, and probably want to be supportive, and I think that is a partnership those guys are going to have to look into, because you can't go from playing in our Premier Division to playing the US in a World Cup game. We used to, but you can't do it anymore.

"The US are bringing back players from top European clubs, we don't have anybody, other than Reggie Lambe, who's played one game in the Carling Cup. You used to be able to bring Clyde Best back, you had Gary Darrell playing in the States, Gumbo Bean playing in the States, Mel Bean, you had a bunch of people who were playing in the States coming up to play against the likes of Mexico."

For Beard, people's expectations of skill levels, and success, have been blurred by the wall-to-wall TV coverage of European football now available on the Island. And while he acknowledges that there are good players on the Island, he believes they fail to realise the kind of work it takes to succed outside of Bermuda.

"It's what I'm saying about being realistic," said Beard. "People watch football on the television and it looks easy, but they're professionals, they've got time, they've got themselves into a space, and they've already seen where that next pass is going to go.

"Unfortunately for a lot of our players our level (of football on the Island) stops too soon. You need to be able to go to another level. I think people get to the Premier Division here and think that's it, and therefore if they can play the Premier here, they can play somewhere else. It doesn't happen like that.

"Football has moved on, you have to be prepared, like Reggie Lambe said, for day, after day, after day, of just hard graft. And it's not always a pleasant situation to be in, pro football is cut throat stuff, because you want to keep your position and your job.

"You can't ever let off, and you've got to be prepared to deal with it, and that's the reality and unfortunately because it comes so easily to some players to play at the top level here, they don't get that next step."