American dream for Coutts (From Dorset Echo)

American dream for Coutts

8:50am Saturday 27th June 2009

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FORMER Weymouth skipper James Coutts leaves for America this weekend to try his luck overseas, but hopes to return to the Wessex Stadium one day in the future.

The midfielder, who captained his hometown club in the latter stages of last season, jets across the Atlantic tomorrow and will stay there for at least five months as he searches for a new club.

Coutts said: “I’ll be leaving on Sunday and going there for a minimum of five months to do a mixture of coaching and hopefully playing.

“I’ve always wanted to get away and travel and I’ve been in touch with some clubs out in America so hopefully I can go there, do some trials and take it from there. The plan though, is to get into Major League Soccer eventually. I trust my ability enough to be able to make it.”

Coutts first joined the Terras on loan from AFC Bournemouth in January 2007 and subsequently signed a permanent deal with the Wessex Stadium outfit the following summer.

The 22-year-old could have stayed for another season but insists that the chance to move abroad was too good to refuse.

He added: “I loved my time playing for Weymouth and hopefully one day I could come back. I did get offers from one or two clubs but going abroad was too good an opportunity to turn down.

“If a Football League club had offered me a contract then maybe I would have stayed.”

Last season was a roller-coaster ride for everyone associated with the club and Coutts is hoping that new boss Matty Hale, and the current board of directors, can provide a much smoother journey next term.

He said: “Last season was horrible in the end and it was a season full of different emotions, which took a lot out of us. There were so many different things going on and I just hope the club can enjoy some stability now.

“Weymouth will always be my home and maybe in the future I’ll be back again.”

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