Former South Africa, Kaizer Chiefs and SuperSport United coach Stuart Baxter has taken over at bottom placed Portuguese side Boavista for the rest of the season, it was announced on Sunday.
Boavista lie bottom of the Portuguese league standings with 18 points from 29 games.
They are five points from safety with five matches to play in the campaign and in a seemingly hopeless position.
It is a return to Portuguese soccer for the first time in almost three decades for the 71-year-old Englishman, who coached Vitória de Setúbal in the 1987/88 season.
𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗕𝗮𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗲́ 𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗼 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗼 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮 𝗙𝗖 🤝
— Boavista FC (@boavistaoficial) April 13, 2025
Contrato válido até ao final da próxima época ✍️ Jorge Couto integra equipa técnica#FeitosDeXadrezhttps://t.co/YZ6ZsHikJV
“Boavista FC informs that it has reached an agreement with Stuart Baxter to take over as head coach of the senior football team,” said a club statement.
“He signed a contract valid until the end of the 2025/26 season, that is, until June 2026.
“With a vast international career, Stuart Baxter has worked in countries such as Portugal, Sweden, Norway, Japan, India and Turkey.
“During his career he also managed the England Under-19s as well as the senior teams of Finland and South Africa.
“The new Boavista FC coach has several titles under his belt, including a Swedish championship and two Swedish Cups, as well as two South African championships, three South African Cups and two South African League Cups,” the statement added.
His first match in charge will be away at second from bottom Farense on Friday.
Baxter’s last coaching post was at Helsingborg in Sweden in 2023. Before that he had been at Chiefs, but left in 2022.
He had two spells with AmaKhosi and was the last coach to win a trophy for the club when they took the league title in 2015.
He also had two stints as Bafana Bafana coach and was SuperSport United coach from 2015-17.