Bristol City fan is youngest coach of the worst team in the world

A Bristol City fan has become the world's youngest international football coach – by taking over a team of players representing a remote island in the Pacific Ocean.

Amateur footballer Paul Watson, 25, who grew up in Shirehampton and Henleaze, has become the coach of tiny Pohnpei in Micronesia.

He faces a daunting task in turning around the fortunes of the footballing minnows – the team have never won a match and are officially ranked the worst national side in the world.

And the performance of his players isn't the only thing he has to worry about. The island has a high obesity rate, the third wettest climate in the world and players often turn up late for training.

But Mr Watson believes he can bring a sense of sporting pride to the nation's 34,000 inhabitants by leading the team to their first ever victory – despite his limited coaching experience.

Freelance journalist Mr Watson, who is coaching the team with his friend Matthew Conrad for no pay, was in negotiations with the island's officials for almost two years before he took over at the start of August.

He has now returned from Pohnpei to England on a short visit to raise money for his team. Football strips have already been donated by Tottenham Hotspur, Yeovil Town and Norwich City.

Mr Watson, brother of comedian Mark, landed the job after getting in touch with officials from some of the world's weakest footballing nations as part of a documentary he was working on. He ended up meeting with a Pohnpei football official in London and was eventually offered the job.

Mr Watson said: "By chance, he said the country didn't have a coach at the moment and were looking for someone to take over.

"Like idiots, we said we would consider it and we went over there. We took some training sessions, had an interview with their Olympic committee and was told that because I had played to a reasonable standard in England I would be able to do the job.

"The players out there have a lot of raw talent but they've never had any proper coaching.

"I'm hoping we can do something good for the game in Pohnpei... We are now trying to raise some sponsorship money because we can't afford to do everything out of our own pockets."

He said he was trying to organise a match against Guam, who beat Pohnpei 16-0 in their last clash, but says the cost of getting players to and from matches was a big problem, among other things.

Mr Watson, who lives in London with his girlfriend and played for East Fulham, says he plans to return on a 25-hour flight to the UK every eight weeks.

At 25, he is two years younger than previous youngest national team coach Paul Crosbie.