Durban City FC head coach Gavin Hunt has offered his perspective on the ongoing trend of clubs selling their PSL statuses, with four of his former teams having been sold.
Hunt recently took the reins at Durban City after being unattached for three months following his sacking from SuperSport United, who later sold their Betway Premiership status to Siwelele FC. In his first stint with Matsatsantsa, he won three league titles and the Nedbank Cup.
Meanwhile, in 2020, Hunt found himself jobless when his then club Bidvest Wits was sold to Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila [TTM], who moved to Limpopo. With ‘The Clever Boys’, Hunt had previously won the league title, MTN8 and Telkom Knockout Cup.
Two other clubs he previously managed, whose statuses were eventually sold, are Moroka Swallows and Hellenic FC. Swallows sold their status to Marumo Gallants in 2024 and moved to Bloemfontein.
Hellenic, meanwhile, was sold in 2004 to the Gauteng-based Ndlovu family, who then established Benoni Premier United.
Having witnessed the disappearance of footballing history that he was previously a part of, Hunt firmly asserts that buyers should not change club names and, equally important, should not relocate the teams.
GAVIN HUNT’S TWO CENTS ON THE SALE OF CLUBS’ STATUSES IN THE PSL
“A club’s name shouldn’t change. When people buy clubs, the name should stay and they should remain in the city where they’re from,” said Hunt.
“You cannot build the support base, the stadium, or training facilities. All these types of things, that’s just my opinion. Whenever somebody buys a football club, they should buy the club and its location.
“When the Arabs buy Manchester City, when Americans buy Manchester United, when they buy Liverpool, the name remain, not this thing of changing names.
“If you do that, there’s no identity anymore, you’ve lost identity in South African football. So, people can’t align themselves to…
“AmaZulu have great history, thanks God they have kept it. Durban City have come back now, at least it’s in Durban and the club has great history too. When names are changing, it’s very sad.”
RELATED STORY: ‘Two bulls in 1 kraal?’ – Kadodia on Hunt & Middendorp’s appointments
