Kaizer Chiefs made the announcement at a media brief at their Naturena headquarters today.
“We are proud to announce the new Kaizer Chiefs Coach, Mr Steve Komphela. Welcome to the Amakhosi Family,” said club chairman Kaizer Motaung.
“We welcome him back to the Kaizer Chiefs Village, he was once a player and also an Assistant Coach.”
This means Komphela has terminated his contract at Maritzburg United, former employer on Monday. He replaces the big shoes left by Stuart Baxter who is a technical director in Turkey.
Komphela in his response said: “Thanks to the Chairman, I have seen a few familiar faces, I’m happy to be here again. I would like to acknowledge the success of the team from the previous season.”
“As a local boy coming into arguably the best team in Africa, this is a unique opportunity, I’m excited.”
“Looking forward to working in this team, smelling the grass and donning that black and gold training kit.”
Komphela, becomes the first local, fulltime coach at Chiefs since Trott Moloto in 1994, Wellington Manyathi (1997), Jacob Sephoa (1999) and Doctor Khumalo and Ace Khuse (2002/03) were all caretakers.
A teacher by profession and one of highly recommended football analyst in the country, Komphela is a sibling to Free State MEC for Safety and former MP Butana Komphela.
At AmaKhosi the culture and pressure that comes with this prestigious team is totally different from other teams. And ‘Bra Steve’ should by now know that.
As things stand for now “Mntungwa 16V” Khumalo remains as assistant coach, whose future at the club has been on everyone’s lips.