Craig Hinchliffe is Aberdeen’s new Head of Goalkeeping.

The 52-year-old replaces Craig Samson, who recently departed to take up a similar role at Hibernian.

Commenting on his move to the Dons, Craig said: “It’s fantastic to be here and be part of an exciting new chapter for the Club.

“There is a real positive energy around the place and I’m looking forward to working alongside the new management team, and of course, a very talented group of goalkeepers.”

During his playing career Craig had spells at Arbroath, St Mirren and Partick Thistle, the latter as a dual role of player / coach.

He would spend six-years at Firhill, before moving with manager Jackie McNamara to Dundee United and then to York City, before becoming Goalkeeping Coach at Motherwell.

He was five-years at Fir Park before another brief spell at Tannadice and then onto St Johnstone, where he recruited and trained new Dons keeper Dimitar Mitov.

With seventeen years of coaching experience under his belt, he now moves to Pittodrie to form part of Jimmy Thelin’s backroom staff, that also contains assistants Emir Bajrami, Christer Persson and Peter Leven.

“I am delighted to welcome Craig as our new Head of Goalkeeping”, said the Dons boss.

“He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience, particularly of Scottish football which was important to us. He also has a strong relationship with Dimitar having worked with him at St Johnstone.

“We believe he will be a real asset to our Club. He shares our passion and enthusiasm for coaching and we’ve no doubt he will help to improve the goalkeepers we have here at Aberdeen.”