A SUCCESSFUL Angus-US football exchange programme has celebrated its first match made in heaven.

For almost 30 years, the beautiful game has been at the heart of the link between Forfar and Farmington in Connecticut which has spawned countless enduring friendships on each side of the Atlantic.

And the exchange programme can now claim to be a winner in the romance stakes after the wedding of Forfar’s Bryan Robertson and his Farmington bride, Christine Carrier, eight years after she arrived in Angus as part of a teenage football team.

The pair met by chance during Christine’s 2001 visit with the Farmington squad and the thousands of miles which separate their homes have proved no barrier to the young sweethearts.

“We kept in touch after I left Forfar and then at the end of 2002 I made a decision to make the trip back and stay with the friend who hosted me during the exchange,” Christine said.

“I wanted to come back and see everyone who I had met during my visit but in the back of my mind I really wanted to see Bryan.”

During summer breaks from university, Christine returned to the UK to be with Bryan and the Forfar-Farmington match has now brought a happy result at a beachside wedding ceremony in South Carolina.

Cabinetmaker Bryan and Christine, who works in recruitment, have settled in Edinburgh but are planning a move back to the States.

The Forfar founder of the exchange programme is delighted for them.

“We celebrate 30 years of the Farmington link in 2010 and will be hoping to make the visit of next year’s group extra special but this is a great thing ahead of that anniversary,” Forfar Farmington chairman and Angus councillor Colin Brown said.

“I’ve known both Bryan and Christine since they first met each other and they are both exceptionally nice young people.

“Down the years there have probably been a few holiday romances but there have also been many other lasting friendships established and only last weekend I had a visit from a grandad of one of the Farmington players.”