FOUR-TIME Premier League champions Portmore United have acquired the services of former national player and National Youth coach Neville ‘Bertis’ Bell as head coach, with immediate effect.

The St Catherine side announced that Bell will be assisted by former head coach Linval Dixon, himself a former Jamaica player.

Meanwhile Anthony Modeste of Grenada, a former captain of Portmore United, returns to the island today to rejoin the beleaguered team as a player.

Modeste will also be enrolled by Portmore United for the upcoming JFF Level I Advanced Coaching Course in March of this year.

Bell has had much success at the schoolboy level, having guided his alma mater, St George’s College, to successive Manning Cup and Olivier Shield titles over the past two schoolboy football seasons.

He first won the Manning Cup as coach in 1992 and has also led the North Street giants to Walker Cup Knock-out triumphs during his tenure with the Light Blues.

Formerly known as Hazard United when the team was based in Clarendon, Portmore United have struggled in the Digicel Premier League this season and are unaccustomedly lying in mid-table in the 12-team competition.

The team which narrowly missed out on the prestigious DPL title last season is currently seventh in the league with a paltry 23 points, having secured only five wins in 22 outings so far this season.