Although many in the footballing fraternity were under the impression Shaun Goater is moving into coaching when he retires at the end of next season, the veteran striker has confirmed his future lies back in Bermuda.

Goater has just one season left in the professional game and then he will jump on a plane back to the Island with plenty still to offer.

“No, I'm coming home, that's for definite,” said Goater, whose disappointing season with Reading and then Coventry on loan came to a conclusion on Sunday with the former Man City talisman failing to notch a league goal in just eight starts.

“All I have got left is one more year - North Village excluded - and then I want to come home.

“I have thought about my options very carefully, about either coaching or TV work and although I have had a lot of offers to do TV pundit stuff, that's not where my future lies.

“But once the season is finished I am coming back.

“Every time I fly to the Island, I look around and think what a beautiful place it is. There really is no place like home.”

Although it is unclear what role Goater would play in Bermuda football, it is obvious that the Island's leading player in recent years has plenty of options.

“I am not sure exactly what I will do, but there are plenty of things that I am looking into,” said Goater, whose Grassroots Soccer Festival, featuring a touring Manchester City academy side again, is running next month.

“There is obviously the whole festival thing, I would like to keep doing that and look at other options to do with clinics and young players.

“But there are hopefully some other things I could be involved with.

“Although I haven't really spoken to anyone in any detail about it, if some kind of Director of Football role with the BFA (Bermuda Football Association) were to come up in the future - that is something I would definitely want to look into if they wanted me.”

And current national coach Kyle Lightbourne, who has also made the trip home after life as a UK pro, believes Goater would have plenty to offer in Bermuda.

“Shaun brings a lot of experience to the table,” said Lightbourne, a close friend of Goater who he played twice last year in the national side.

“Without a doubt he has a lot to offer. It is not for me to say what sort of role he could play, but certainly it is obvious that anything he does for the game will be a benefit.

“He has already showed with his clinics that he wants to put something back and I hope he gets given the chance to do that.

“Shaun has great contacts and a great insight into the game and he can really do a lot here.”

Goater has already stated publicly he would like to see the game's elder statesmen involved in the advancement of the national sport and called last year for a “steering committee” consisting of him, Lightbourne and veteran indoor player David Bascome to be set up.

“In three to five years time there may not be any of us playing top flight football with this experience and it would be a shame to let our knowledge go,” he said while back on the Island for a World Cup qualifying warm-up match against Nicaragua last year.

“Now is the time to make the most of this opportunity. It is really up to the BFA, but I would like to see them set up some kind of committee with me, Kyle and David on it.

“We could meet whenever we are all back on the Island and try and help out to ensure that we can take Bermuda football as far it goes. “