FORMER Taunton Town boss Paul West insists his enthusiasm for football has returned with a passion – after attending a Somerset FA level 2 coaching course.

West managed the Southern League side for three years before he and club parted company in the spring of 2012 following a rocky Division 1 S&W campaign.

The 44-year-old had spent most of his playing career in midfield and at the back for his home-town team and even won the FA Vase at Villa Park with them in 2001, as captain, having played at Wembley in 1994 in the final of the same competition when they were narrowly pipped 2-1 by Diss Town.

West admits his appetite for a sport he once relished began diminishing after he was forced to hang up his boots at the age of 31 following a series of serious knee injuries sustained to his left leg.

When he lost his job as manager of Taunton in more recent years, his love for football all but evaporated, that was until he embarked on that level 2 coaching course at Buckler's Mead, Yeovil.