SCOTTISH rockers Biffy Clyro will headline next summer’s Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth on the Saturday night.

The three-piece Ayrshire band will make their first festival headline appearance at the Hertfordshire stately home on Saturday, July 9.

Last night’s announcement (Monday) follows news that Iowa metallers Slipknot will also headline at the three-day rock and metal event, with the opening Friday night’s big name headliner still to be revealed.

Best known for hit singles The Captain, Mountains, Bubbles and That Golden Rule, the trio’s current album, Only Revolutions, has been a permanent fixture in the UK charts for more than a year and earned the Scots a Mercury Prize nomination for Album of The Year.

Although Sonisphere 2011 will see Biffy elevated to headline status for the first time, Simon Neil and brothers James Johnston and Ben Johnston are no strangers to playing to 50,000 plus fans, having supported Muse at Wembley Stadium earlier this year and won the critics’ choice at the 2010 UK Festival Awards in honour of their Glastonbury performance.

Biffy Clyro are also due to support Foo Fighters at Milton Keynes Bowl next summer.

Tickets for the UK leg of the touring Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth from July 8 to July 10 go on sale later this week.