Montego Bay United will open the defence of their Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) title on Sunday, September 4, at Wes pow Park, when they host promoted Maverley-Hughenden.

Montego Bay United will open the defence of their Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) title on Sunday, September 4, at Wes pow Park, when they host promoted Maverley-Hughenden.

MBU have been to the last three finals of the RSPL and after strengthening their squad over the off-season should be factors again this season.

Former champions FC Reno will be on the road for the opening round, playing against semi-finalists Arnett Gardens. They will play their first home game of the season against Humble Lion on September 11.

Among the new players acquired by MBU in the off-season are Otis Ffriend, who last played for Tivoli Gardens, and Al Nesbeth, formerly of Cavalier SC.

A new man will be calling the shots from the side-lines as Serbian coach Slavisa Bozicic — the newest foreign coach — will take charge at MBU.

Meanwhile, the competition will be played with a new format with six teams advancing to the play-offs at the end of the regular season.

The format will see the teams playing each other once in the first round; the order of the games would change for the second round with teams playing each other depending on where they finish in the first round, with the top team taking on the last placed team in the first set of games in the second round.

The third round will be a repeat of the first round with the teams swapping home grounds.

The top six teams would then advance after the three rounds, but the top two teams on points would gain automatic spots in the semi-finals, while the third place would play the sixth place team and second meet fifth in a home-and-away ‘quarter-final’ series with the winners on aggregate qualifying for the semis.