York United FC announced on Wednesday that Mauro Eustáquio has been named the club’s head coach, effective immediately.

The 31-year-old Eustáquio is the fourth permanent head coach in York’s history, as he takes over from the recently departed Benjamín Mora. His appointment was officially unveiled Thursday in a press conference at York Lions Stadium alongside general manager Jorge Villalpando and club president Ricardo Pasquel.

Eustáquio, who has been an assistant coach at York United for the past three seasons, becomes not only the youngest head coach in Canadian Premier League history (as well as the youngest head coach of a tier-one professional club in North America), but also the first former CPL player to take on the top coaching gig at a club. Eustáquio played for Cavalry FC during the league’s inaugural season in 2019.

“I’m grateful for this opportunity and thankful to the ownership for their support,” Eustáquio said in a statement.

“This club means a lot to me, it’s close to my heart and I’m committed to delivering an extremely competitive team. The hard work doesn’t start now. The hard work continues. I’m a person who believes strongly in dedication and focus and that discipline has always been a large part of who I am. We can achieve great things together and I’m excited for what’s ahead.”

This will be Eustáquio’s first time leading a club as head coach, although he did take charge at York United for two matches in 2024, between the departure of Martin Nash and the appointment of Mora. In those two games, Eustáquio picked up a win against Halifax Wanderers and lost to Forge FC.

He remained an integral part of Mora’s staff through the remainder of 2024, as the Nine Stripes went on to set a club record with 39 points, hosting Pacific FC in the club’s first ever home playoff match — which they won 2-0, ultimately bowing out of the postseason at the quarter-final stage in a penalty shootout against Atlético Ottawa.

Born in Nazaré, Portugal but raised in Leamington, Ont., Eustáquio’s playing career featured multiple stops in both Portugal and Canada. Along with his time at Cavalry, Eustáquio also spent time with Ottawa Fury and FC Edmonton in the NASL, and he finished his career at Portuguese side Caldas in 2021 before moving into the world of coaching. He was invited to join York’s staff in 2022 by Martin Nash, who had just been named head coach after three years as an assistant at Cavalry.

Recently, Eustáquio was invited by Jesse Marsch to join the Canadian men’s national team camp in September as a Canadian Coaching Community Representative. At the time, Marsch spoke glowingly of Eustáquio — elder brother of national team player Stephen — complimenting the York coach’s potential.

Work is now underway at York to prepare for the 2025 season, with several roster announcements expected in the coming weeks. Eustáquio will be working closely with the club’s newly-promoted general manager Villalpando in assembling a squad for the upcoming campaign.