TORONTO - Toronto FC coaches were rubbing their hands at acquiring Andy Iro from the Columbus Crew. But the big English defender's journey to North America started inauspiciously.

Just about no one wanted him.

A Liverpool native, Iro said he woke up one morning and realized after 19 years in northwestern England that it was time to get out.

"So I just started looking online about this thing that they call a scholarship for college," he said. "I mean I sent about 500 emails out to different colleges but it was fairly late in the recruiting year, maybe like April.

"So I got 10 responses, eight of them saying 'No, our recruitment's done. We have no more money for this year. Maybe next year.' "

But Iro wanted out now.

There was interest from UC Santa Barbara and a school in Omaha, Nebraska.

"I was like 'I don't know anything about America but I'll go to Santa Barbara first, then after a couple of days, I'll go to Nebraska and then I'll make my decision.'

"I signed the first day that I was in Santa Barbara. And the rest was history."

Iro played four years for the Gauchos, helping them to a national championship in 2006.

"Up until now, the best four years of my life," he said of his college days.

His play at UC Santa Barbara opened the door to MLS.

The Columbus Crew chose him sixth overall in the 2008 SuperDraft. And last week his MLS journey led him to Toronto along with French midfield Leandre Griffit in exchange for midfielder Tony Tchani.

Iro, who will wear No. 3, may make his Toronto debut Wednesday against visiting FC Dallas.

German midfielder Torsten Frings, Dutch striker Danny Koevermans and Jamaican midfielder-forward Ryan Johnson could also be featured for the first time.

Toronto FC hopes the six-foot-five 205-pound Iro will help anchor a team that has lost central defenders Adrian Cann and Dicoy Williams to injury, and traded Nana Attakora to San Jose in last week's flurry of player movement.

Griffit, for one, says Toronto fans won't be disappointed.

"Andy Iro's a beast, man," he said enthusiastically.

"He's a good player, a good teammate, a good leader too," he added.

Iro's also a good interview, with a ready smile and a good sense of humour that should make him a reporter's favourite.

With seven brothers and a sister, he should also be a good team player.

A fan of Newcastle United, he said he "slummed around the lower leagues (in England) just trying to find my way as a 17-, 18-, 19-year-old.

"But then I made that jump to college in America."

The 26-year-old Iro, calling himself "a pretty outspoken but honest guy," acknowledges he and Columbus coach Robert Warzycha did not see eye to eye.

He went from playing some 30 games last year to four this season

"It was difficult," said Iro, who requested a trade.

But Iro, clearly a fan of California's beaches, has already warmed to Toronto.

"I hear great things about the city. I was just doing a little Wikipedia check and I hear there's beaches here. I was like 'What?' I'm excited about that.

"And I'm ready to be back in the big city. It kind of reminds me a lot of London when I was back there."

While "still a Scouser," Iro is considered a North American in the eyes of the MLS so does not take up an international player slot.

His contract expires at the end of the season, but he expects to prolong his stay in Toronto.

"I think we may be talking soon," he said with a smile.