SuperSport United have announced the appointment of Eric Tinkler as head coach on a three-year deal ahead of the 2017-18 Absa Premiership season.

The former Bafana Bafana captain, who had a long and successful playing career, will take charge of Matsatsantsa from 1 July 2017.

Locally he played for Bidvest Wits and later went on to play for Vitoria De Setubal (Portugal), Cagliari (Italy) and Barnsley (England).

Tinkler earned 48 national caps for Bafana Bafana between 1994 and 2002 and helped South Africa to lift the 1996 African Cup of Nations under Clive Barker.

Appointed as assistant coach at Orlando Pirates, the 46-year-old assisted the Soweto-based side in qualifying for the MTN8, Telkom Knockout, Nedbank Cup and Caf Champions League final. After taking full reign at the Buccaneers as head coach, Tinkler led Pirates to the Confederation Cup and Nedbank Cup Final in the 2015-16 season.

His first major silverware came in 2017 after leading Cape Town City to the Telkom Knock-Out trophy and lead the team to finish in the top three of the Absa Premiership in their maiden season.

SuperSport United CEO Stanley Matthews, ‘We are excited about Eric taking the team forward. He has earned his stripes as an international player and as a coach, he has a fantastic track record of both building young players and being fiercely competitive within the PSL.’

‘By qualifying for a variety of domestic and continental Cup finals, he has shown his potential to be one of the great South African coaches of the future.’