Bell earns a shot to win over Sir Alex
A Havant teenager has booked himself a training session with Sir Alex Ferguson after topping a nationwide talent hunt.
Louis Bell scooped the honours at the London trials for Nike's Most Wanted on Saturday.
The UK and Ireland search has been launched in association with the Premier League to uncover 22 young talents capable of playing at a higher level.
And the 19-year-old, who last month joined Gosport Borough and was once on Pompey's books, beat off competition from more than 100 players at Westway Sports Centre, west London, to emerge as one of the stars.
As part of the challenge, players were tested on their shooting, ball skills, speed, passing and mental agility.
Bell amassed more points then any other player in his heat to qualify, while a Brighton competitor finished as runner-up.
The pair now head to Manchester next month for the finals, where all 22 regional champions will be coached by legendary Manchester United manager Ferguson.
The attacking midfielder was released from Pompey a season ago after 11 years at Fratton Park.
But now he's dreaming of the big time once again.
Bell said: 'I remember sitting in the car and watching all these players walking past.
'They all looked as though they could play.
'Most of them were from pro clubs like Fulham, Brentford, Charlton, Watford and the London area – so you can say I was surprised to win it.
'We had to do all sorts of tests. For the shot drills, if you hit the ball into the top corner you got 10 points while the bottom corner was five points.
'The top 25 scorers went through to the next round plus five wildcards – and I had the top score.
'They then added three goalkeepers and put us in three teams of 11 for three 15 -minute matches with the coaches assessing.
'Fortunately, I was one of the two to go through. The other lad came 11th in the tests but they liked the look of him. It's fantastic. Now I'm going to train under Sir Alex Ferguson.'
West Ham stars Craig Bellamy, Mark Noble and Anton Ferdinand were all on hand to watch Bell's triumph on Saturday.
Footage will be broadcast tomorrow night at 7.30pm in Premier League World on Sky Sports 1.
And he is hoping to catch the eye.
He added: 'Obviously I was a bit down after being released from Portsmouth. I had been there since I was seven and then was not kept on.
'I played at Newport IOW last season and have now joined Gosport, who are a really good club, but I really want to get back into the football league.
'The opportunity is there to train with Sir Alex Ferguson and hopefully impress a few people and get noticed.
'I'm keeping my fingers cross this can now kick me on.'
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Weather for Portsmouth
Saturday 26 May 2012
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