Liam Ridgewell laughs as he relays one of the moments that has made his move to Portland Timbers an American dream.

Enjoying a meal with friends in a restaurant near his new home, the player once of West Bromwich Albion, Birmingham and Aston Villa, was tapped on the shoulder by a fan of his current club.

Dropping to his haunches then lying flat, arms outstretched, the supporter rolled along the floor unabashed as diners looked on bemused. Ridgewell, though, appreciated the gesture.

Liam Ridgewell is loving life with the Portland Timbers after his summer move from West Bromwich Albion

Ridgewell's ‘Ridgeyroll’ goal celebration (above) has become famous across Oregon

The move is inspired by his brother’s Sunday League team who asked Ridgewell to showcase it during games

‘The geezer’s rolled down the whole length of the bar,’ he recalls. ‘The manager, who knows us, had this towel and gets down on his knees to start cleaning up the floor. “What are you doing?” I ask. “He’s just fallen over,” he says. “No,” I explain. “He was doing the Ridgeyroll!”’

After half a season of Major League Soccer, Ridgewell is already famous in Oregon, and wider, for a goal celebration that has been named in his honour. Inspired by his brother’s Sunday League team, he first produced it after scoring a buccaneering solo effort at New England Revolution in August.

There is more beside to give cause for his good mood as we chat over lunch in King’s Cross on his return to England now the MLS season has finished.

He is fresh from five months spent living in a wood cabin by a lake, where he can drive out his boat and relax under the sun till his heart’s content. He has been playing in front of sell-out crowds boisterous from tailing-gating and discovering that Portland caters to his taste for bowler hats as well as PG Tips. He is getting into fantasy football US-style too.

In London, there are meetings to be had over his swimwear company and ahead lies a first Christmas in 15 years celebrated with family and without football. Having sold his Birmingham house he is back, aged 30, with his parents at his childhood home, in Bexleyheath, Kent.

‘It’s lovely,’ he says. ‘You wake up in the morning and there’s a bacon sandwich and cup of tea ready. My brothers call it Hotel Ridgewell.’

That surname is used as less of a punchline when attached to his now trademark celebration – borne out of a transatlantic video-call with brother Clark as he enjoyed a London night out to toast the birth of his baby girl.

Ridgewell (right) tangles with Didier Drogba during his time at Aston Villa during the 2006 season

Ridgewell (left), pictured holding off Portsmouth's Noe Pamarot, spent five seasons at Villa Park

Ridgwell watches on as Manchester United united striker Wayne Rooney winds up an audacious strike

‘I was in the hotel before the New England game and he’s FaceTiming me while out on the p*** with his mates,’ says Ridgewell. ‘His whole Sunday League team do this log roll to celebrate goals. They’re all shouting, “Make sure you do the log roll when you score”. So I did.’

Curiously, one of Portland’s nicknames is Stumptown, owing to all the tress that needed to be chopped down in the 19th century to make way for a growing population. ‘It fits so well. Our mascot is called Timber Joey and when you score they cut a piece of log off and give it to you.’

Soon becoming the Ridgeyroll the move, which got another outing when he scored at home two weeks later, has taken off. He sees banners in the stands in tribute and fans send him clips of their own efforts.

The goal that sparked it was something special. Winning the ball just inside his opponent’s half, Ridgewell dribbled past two players, beat a third for pace and planted a left-foot finish into the net. ‘I’m not the quickest in the world but I’ve gone past him like Gareth Bale,’ he says. ‘I scored one like it in a Stevie Bull testimonial for Aston Villa when I was 19. No one has seen it.’ Cameras caught this effort, preserved for eternity online.

Ridgewell is living in America partly because of a summer birthday party in Las Vegas. It was there, on the first day, he received a call from his agent telling him Portland Timbers were interested. US geography was not Ridgewell’s forte. ‘Get a map,’ he was told. ‘It’s just 45 minutes north on a flight’

‘That’s probably the main part of why I visited,’ admits Ridgewell. ‘They flew me out, picked me up, and drove me round. I was like, “Woah”.’

Ridgwell moved from Villa to Birmingham City in 2007 and spent five seasons with the Blues

Ridgewell, in action for Birmingham, tries to chase down Manchester City winger Adam Jonhson

He was amazed by the stadium, training ground, and infrastructure of the club. Then, when taken to Lake Oswego to sink a beer in scorching heat with manager Caleb Porter, he knew he had to take a leap made by few English players.

‘I was more or less sold there and then,’ he says. ‘I just needed for my kids to agree to it.’ Being nearly 5,000 miles away from Eva, who turned six in November, and Luca, turning nine on December 27, was a dilemma. A meal with them and his ex, led to a solution.

‘They saw it more as an adventure. Once they were fine, it was the easiest decision. My mum and dad brought them out for the whole of August. They really enjoyed it. It was hard walking through the terminal when they went back, standing there crying. But I’m out there playing football for them.’

Ridgewell insisted on a place by the lake he had fallen in love with. ‘My back garden has decking, some steps, and then there’s the lake,’ he says. ‘You can go swimming and people have trampolines where you dive in.

‘I bought a speedboat, so of an evening instead of getting a train or a bus you sail out to the local restaurant. No parties as such, we’ve had a couple of days out. You drop anchor, have a few drinks, sunbathe, muck about.

‘I want to go up into the woods, there are log cabins out in the middle of nowhere with infinity pools. I would never get that chance in England. While I’m out there I want to take it all in.’

West Bromwich Albion was Ridgewell's next port of call in 2012; he spent two seasons with the Baggies

Ridgewell (right) gets to grips with Norwich City's Nathan Redmond at the Hawthorns

The city is to his liking as well. ‘A bit quirky,’ says the man with tattoo sleeves on each arm and hair slicked back. ‘They have a nice hat store. I bought two bowler hats and three Oliver Twist flatcaps.’

Home comforts too. ‘I finally found and little English shop called Lady Di’s – after Diana. They have Ambrosia, Maryland Cookies, PG Tips, crumpets. Everything.’

Ridgewell has embraced American sport, doing well for a novice in the NFL’s version of fantasy football. ‘I held the draft at my house. You get the board up, stick the players in the air. By the time you get to the end the last two or three picks are anyone, you’ve had a drink. It’s a good laugh and a good way to bond with the players.’

Ridgewell is one of the club’s designated players, earning substantially more than most at $1.2million (£760,000) annually. Salaries are available for all to observe online. ‘You’re going in there as a designated player for a reason, so it’s a little bit more pressure on you,’ he says. ‘But as long as you’re down to earth, people respect you no matter what you’re earning.’

He thinks the MLS standard is roughly equivalent to high-end Championship, lower-end Premier League but predicts huge growth. ‘With more players, academy leagues and reserve leagues being set up, it will only get better.’

Packed stadiums point to a bright future. ‘Portland have a five year waiting list for season tickets. We have 26,000 fans all singing together. The Americans go to the game to entertain us, they don’t wait for us to entertain them.

Ridgewell (Back row, fourth right) lines up for England U21’s clash with Holland at Pride Park in February 2005

‘They get in an hour-and-a-half before kick-off and are jumping and having a great time. They’ve done tail-gating beforehand; flip down their hood, get out their barbeque, cook some hotdogs, drink beer.

‘The atmosphere is like a Spurs v Arsenal game from back in the day. It’s crazy, you can’t hear yourself play. People camp out for three days just to get a ticket. You see them sleeping on the street.’

It is more serene for Ridgewell now, although there are meetings about his fledgling swimwear brand, Thomas Royall, alongside close friend Sam Saunders of Brentford. ‘It’s been going for eight months, there are 13 collections already. It’s something different.’

He is looking to go on loan to a club in London during the winter window, before the MLS season starts up again in March. But is open to just relaxing.