A man who once played alongside Michel Platini is helping Peacehaven's bid to recapture past glories.

Bechar Beujaoui, known to everyone as BB, is hoping to inject some French flair into the second division club after joining the coaching staff at Piddinghoe Avenue.

Once regarded as the best team in the County League, seven-times champions Peacehaven are now languishing in division two but Beujaoui believes he can play a part in turning their fortunes around.

The 42-year-old's credentials are impressive. A knee injury ruined a career when beckoned stardom.

He was a youth player at Saint Etienne in the early Seventies when Les Verts dominated French football and he was being earmarked for a place in the national under-19 side before injury effectively ended his career.

He was still battling to recover when Platini joined Saint Etienne in 1979 to play alongside French stars of that era such as Dominique Rocheteau, Gerard Janvion and Christian Sarramagna.

Injury prevented Beujaoui playing in the same Saint Etienne side as Platini, but they played together in training matches on a regular basis and had played against each other when Platini was at Nancy earlier in his career. He speaks fondly of Platini but not with the reverence that most people do.

He said: "Michel was just like any other player but then, somehow, something in Michel exploded and he suddenly became the player he was.

"He is a big guy but if you play with someone you don't think of them like that. We trained together and played six-a-side together. He knows me."

After packing up playing, Beujaoui became involved in coaching initially at regional level in France before holding roles with Saint Etienne's reserve team and Paris St Germain. He then moved to Ireland where he became friendly with David O'Leary and Liam Brady before settling in Sussex with his English wife Valerie 15 years ago.

For the past 18 months, UEFA B licence holder Beujaoui has run the Fefa (First European Football Academy) for youngsters at Hurstpierpoint College but now he wants to be involved with senior football.

He said: "I kept myself away because I didn't think the English did things the right way. I had been invited so many times to become a coach or manager but I could see there was no way of changing things.

"While we French are passionate about football, the English are very passionate about the roots of football and are not keen on change.

"Running around the pitch for ten laps is what they do. Everything I do is on the ball and is about technical ability.

"Footballers gain confidence from an early age on the ball. Here, the emphasis is on fitness. I do my fitness work at the end of a session when you are warming down.

"This is a different dimension that I can bring to football in Sussex."

Beujaoui believes he can compliment the coaches Peacehaven already have.

He said: "I will try to give the players self respect and to help their reading and understanding of the game.

"The game is about deceit. If you are predictable, you are sussed out very early.

"The players have responded well. They listen. They have confided in me and they are happy to see me there."

Beujaoui is keen to manage a team in Sussex in the future providing he could have a hands-on coaching role but for now he is happy to be helping Peacehaven.

He said: "We are not going to win the league this year so we are looking to next season.

"My aim is to help somebody make it in the game because I am one of the players who could have made it but didn't through injury."