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Thirty-three years ago this week, Hull City went stateside to play Tampa Bay Rowdies in the second leg of the Arrow Air Anglo-American Cup.

The Tigers picked up a 3-1 aggregate victory over the Florida side in a game that will live long in the memory of those old enough to witness it.

However, despite the game taking place over three decades ago, the two clubs still have a connection.

The Rowdies are hoping to be awarded a franchise into the MLS, the American top flight, over the coming months and Beverley-born Hull City fan Stuart Dobson will be helping them do it.

Dobson has been working as Tampa's goalkeeping coach for three seasons after moving out to the States in the early nineties to follow his dream of being a professional footballer and crack America.

A promising goalkeeping career fell by the wayside in the United Kingdom, as opportunities at Hull City and Reading came and went. The former Longcroft School pupil was offered a 'soccer' scholarship in Portland while playing for Goole Town and he hasn't looked back.

"I used to do Tuesday and Thursday nights at the gym behind Boothferry Park at the centre of excellence along with about 200 other kids, so it wasn't that individual really," the 47-year-old said.

"Hull City were not interested in me at the time, but I played for the East Riding FA in the same team as Dean Windass and Graeme Atkinson, I was in the same year as them.

"So there's a few players in that team went on to bigger and better things and I went on to play for Bridlington Town when they were somewhat decent and Colin Appleton was the coach.

"I got the chance when I was with Goole Town to come over to the States in the summer in the off-season and do Camp America, just to coach football for six weeks. Then I came back to England and played for Goole again but I had that American bug and I got offered a soccer scholarship in a university in Portland."

What followed was over ten years on the American indoor football circuit, playing for a number of clubs across the US and Canada, before he eventually settled into coaching.

However, the Beverley lad's big break came when Stuart Campbell was appointed as head coach of the Rowdies and keeping things inherently British gave Dobson his first outdoor chance.

"It was a good connection at Tampa, the head coach here is an English guy, Stuart Campbell, he played for Leicester City for a few years and me and him hit it off.

"I've been here three seasons and it's been great for me. It's not a bad place to be," he added.

It seems almost an odd twist of fate that the Tampa Bay Rowdies should continue their connection with the city of Hull, 33 years after their first meeting.

The Tigers put the Americans to the sword in the first leg at Boothferry Park, as goals from Garreth Roberts, Steve McLaren and Steve Massey sealed a 3-0 win, and even after a 1-0 loss in Florida, it was enough to win the series.

Dobson was at Boothferry Park on the day the Americans came to town and admits that people in Tampa still remember.

"When I moved here to Tampa, when I said I was from Hull, there was a few people from my generation who remembered the Hull City game," he said.

"There are a few people in town who still know of City from that match back in the day.

"I actually went to the game at Boothferry Park and I remember they had cheerleaders there and I think Don Robinson came onto the pitch on a horse.

"It was wild, they did a whole American theme and I was there.

"So it was weird that I watched them back then and now I'm coaching here.

"They've done away with all that now of course here, they're trying to make it the real game. We've got a few English guys here, Joe Cole and Martin Peterson who played for Burnley, they've got a good British influence here.

The American game has been ridiculed in the past as the mind casts back to Diana Ross missing a penalty, but it seems to have turned a corner.

No longer do the biggest stars in Europe rock up for a final payday in the twilight of their career, they actually go to play.

The likes of David Beckham, Kaka and Andrea Pirlo have all helped the game grow and it now seems that football is starting to resonate with the American public, in fact, Dobson not only believes is it serious league but football in the States is the best it has ever been.

"It's a very different league and you have to perform to a high standard and the travel takes its toll," he added.

"When the league first started the games were tough to watch, they didn't flow but now you can actually sit and get enthralled and the public are educated enough now that they are fine with a 0-0 draw. They just didn't get it before because there wasn't enough points on the board.

"If you go to Orlando City down the road, the fans are ridiculous. They stand the whole game and there's the wall based on Borussia Dortmund – and it's worked very well.

"We have a great following as well, our hard-core fans get together hours before the game, they'll sit outside in the car park, drinking, they have smoke bombs, they sing, it's pretty good."