TUCKER, St James — After just a few months as coach of Montego Bay United (MBU), the much travelled Timothy Hankinson has quit.

And according to reports, he is heading back to the American Major League Soccer.

Orville Powell, president of MBU, confirmed late yesterday that Hankinson had tendered his resignation prior to Sunday’s 3-0 win over Rivoli United that saw the St James club top the points tables of the Red Stripe Premier League after the first round.

“It was not easy for him (Hankinson), as he had grown attached to the team,” Powell told the Jamaica Observer. “But we had understood from the start that if the offers came he had to consider them for the sake of his family,” added the MBU boss.

The 60-year-old Hankinson took over in August as he prepared the team for their first appearance in the ScotiaBank CONCACAF Champions League and the start of the Red Stripe Premier League.

After the first round of the Red Stripe Premier League, Montego Bay United were sitting pretty at the top on 24 points from seven wins, three draws and a loss and a 10-game unbeaten run.

Dr Dean Weatherly, who has taken over the team late in the two previous seasons, appears to be the man to take over as Montego Bay United prepare for the start of the second round next weekend, but Powell said the decision on the permanent replacement had not been made.

“There must be continuity in the process… Hankinson has done wonders here, not just on the field, but in how the players approached the game and that cannot be allowed to stop,” said Powell.

Weatherly had completed the last season after Spaniard Carlos Garcia left the team just before the end of the regular season and had also started this season guiding them in the first CONCACAF game, away in Panama against Arabe Unido.

He was also on the bench with Hankinson when they played away to DC United in Washington, DC and for the first few games of the Red Stripe Premier League.