A FORMER Burnley defender who went on to play in the United States has warned Ade Akinbiyi to expect a very different experience on the other side of the Atlantic.

Colin Waldron appeared for the Clarets on 308 occasions between 1967 and 1976 and later spent three years in the North American Soccer League with Tulsa Roughnecks, Atlanta Chiefs and Philadelphia Fury.

Akinbiyi is set to follow in his footsteps by leaving Turf Moor to join Houston Dynamo in the rather less glamorous modern day MLS.

And Waldron hopes the 34-year-old does not live to regret it, as he feels David Beckham now does following a move to AC Milan from LA Galaxy.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that Beckham made a big mistake by going there and it’s about time he admitted it,” said Waldron.

“At this stage of his career Ade is probably going for the money. It’s a great place to live and a fantastic climate, but the football really is secondary.

“There will be a lot of razzmatazz and he will have to do a lot of promotional stuff and call the game soccer.

“I was there for three years and the lifestyle was great because of the climate.

"You could wake up every morning and plan, because you knew for the next few months it was going to be 80 degrees and blue sky.

“I would come back here to grey streets and grey skies.

“To be on the same field as people like Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Neeskens and Pele was unbelievable for me.

“But it’s not like that any more. I don’t know which players are over there now.”