By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Tanzanian side Simba SC have announced Steve Barker as their new head coach, ending the latter’s nine-year stay at Stellenbosch FC.
The club made the announcement on its social media platforms on Friday.
The East African side no stranger to South African coaches after Fadlu Davids led them to the Confederation Cup final last season, beating Stellenbosch in the last-four.
Barker will take over from the Bulgarian Dimitar Pantev, who only joined Simba at the start of the season. He won four of his five Tanzanian league games but has struggled at the start of the group stages of the CAF Champions League, opening with two defeats.
During his playing days, as a midfielder, Barker was shaped at Ramblers FC, Potchefstroom Celtic, and South African National Defence Force (SANDF) FC, respectively.
He later joined Wits University, where he played from 1990 to 1998, before the now-defunct SuperSport United came calling from 1999 to 2000.
Barker came in as a coach for the University of Pretoria FC, commonly referred to as AmaTuks, from 2008 to 2014 before switching to AmaZulu, where he headed the team until 2016.
Barker then joined Stellenbosch in its infancy at the beginning of the 2017/18 season and led the club to the National First Division title the following season, earning promotion to the top flight.
Barker led Stellenbosch FC to the Carling Knockout trophy in 2023 and successive MTN8 finals against Orlando Pirates, both of which were lost.
He is the nephew of former late Bafana Bafana coach Clive Barker, who led South Africa to the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations crown.