Eric Tinkler

Eric Tinkler (born 30 July 1970) is a South African football coach and former player.

Eric Tinkler

Personal information
Date of birth	(1970-07-30) 30 July 1970 (age 55)
Place of birth	Roodepoort, South Africa
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1990–1991	Wits University	18	(0)
1991–1992	União de Tomar	34	(5)
1992–1996	Vitória	84	(2)
1996–1997	Cagliari	20	(0)
1997–2002	Barnsley	99	(9)
2002–2005	Caldas	54	(15)
2005–2007	Bidvest Wits	29	(3)
Total		337	(34)
International career
1994–2002	South Africa	45	(1)
Managerial career
2013–2016	Orlando Pirates
2016–2017	Cape Town City
2017–2018	SuperSport United
2018	Chippa United
2019–2020	Maritzburg United
2021–2024	Cape Town City
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early and personal life

Tinkler was born in Roodepoort.^[1]

Club career

Tinkler played club football for Wits University, União de Tomar, Vitória, Cagliari, Barnsley, Caldas and Bidvest Wits.^[1]

Tinkler moved from Italian club Cagliari to English club Barnsley on 1 July 1997 for a transfer fee of £650,000.^[2]

International career

Tinkler earned 45 caps for the South African national team between 1994 and 2002, scoring 1 goal.^[1] He was part of the South Africa squad that won the 1996 African Cup of Nations, playing in the final.^[3]

Coaching career

Tinkler became head coach of Orlando Pirates in December 2013; in May 2015, it was announced that he would continue in that role for the 2015–16 season.^[4] Tinkler left Orlando Pirates to become the first head coach of Cape Town City club on 17 June 2016.^[5] On 8 June 2017, he became head coach of SuperSport United.^[6] He quit in March 2018.^[7]

After a spell with Chippa United, he became manager of Maritzburg United in January 2019.^[8] He left the club in November 2020.^[9]

He returned as manager of Cape Town City on 24 May 2021.^[10] On 31 December 2024, Tinkler left the club.^[11]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Barnsley	1997–98[12]	Premier League	25	2	2	0	2	0	-		29	2
	1998–99[13]	First Division	25	3	3	0	2	0	-		30	3
	1999–2000[14]		33	4	1	0	5	0	3	0	42	4
	2000–01[15]		0	0	0	0	0	0	-		0	0
	2001–02[16]		16	0	0	0	1	1	-		17	1
	Total		99	9	6	0	10	1	3	0	118	10
Career total			99	9	6	0	10	1	3	0	118	10

International

South Africa national team[1]
Year	Apps	Goals
1994	5	0
1995	4	0
1996	11	1
1997	10	0
1998	0	0
1999	2	0
2000	6	0
2001	2	0
2002	5	0
Total	45	1

Honours

Cape Town City

Telkom Knockout Final^[17]

Supersport United

MTN 8 Cup Final^[18]