Gavin Hunt set for 1,000-game milestone: What was his first match?

SuperSport United coach Gavin Hunt will mark a major milestone on Saturday when he takes charge of his 1000^th top flight match.

Hunt’s side face Golden Arrows at the Lucas Moripe Stadium and it is a match with great significance for the 60-year-old as he will become the first coach to hit 1000 PSL games.

No current PSL tactician can match Hunt’s CV, having won three league titles and Nedbank Cup with SuperSport in his first stint from 2007-2013, led Bidvest Wits to three trophies, including a league title, and has also coached Black Leopards, Moroka Swallows, Kaizer Chiefs and Chippa United.

Hunt started his playing career with Hellenic in 1985 and featured for the club until 1993 after which he went to Cape Town Spurs on loan, playing 11 games, but returned to Hellenic the following year, featuring in 302 games, while playing as a full-back, and scoring six goals.

Hunt’s first season as top flight coach

Gavin Hunt during his first stint at SuperSport United. Photo – SuperSport United

He made his coaching bow with lower division side Seven Stars in 1995 and three years later, he led them to the top flight after winning the Coastal Stream of the National First Division in the 1997-98 season.

Hunt led Seven Stars in their inaugural season in the PSL in 1998-99 but left before the campaign was out and since then, he has been coaching non-stop for 30 years, 27 straight in the PSL, after starting out in 1995 with lower division team Vasco Da Gama.

After Seven Stars, Hunt went on to coach Hellenic (1998-2001), Black Leopards (2001-2002), Moroka Swallows (2002-2007), SuperSport (2007-2013), Bidvest Wits (2013-2020), Kaizer Chiefs (2020-2021), Chippa United (2021) and now in his second stint with Matsatsantsa, having joined in 2022.

Hunt is the only coach to have coached for 27 consecutive years in the PSL era since his first season in 1998-99, being dismissed during the season on four occasions in 1998-99, 2000-01, 2020-21 and 2021-22.

What has the veteran coach won?

Gavin Hunt celebrates with his players after beating Kaizer Chiefs. Photo – SuperSport United

The veteran tactician may be struggling with SuperSport now, his team sitting in 12^th position, but there is hope for Matsatsantsa fans as he has only finished outside the top eight once, in the 2017-18 campaign, when Wits were 13^th.

Hunt is one of the most decorated South Africa coaches, having won nine major trophies, including four league titles, three with SuperSport and one with Wits.

He became the first coach to lead a team to three league titles on bounce when he claimed the 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 PSL crowns with SuperSport, this coming after he had won the 2004 Absa Cup with Moroka Swallows, the club’s first trophy in 13 years.

Hunt joined Chiefs in the 2020-21 from Bidvest Wits, where he had worked from 2012, and won the league title in 2016-17, their first-ever top flight crown, and added the MTN 8 (2016-17) as well as Telkom Knockout Cup (2017-18).

When Kaizer Chiefs did Hunt dirty

The Cape Town-born tactician is the first coach to lead Chiefs to the group stages of the CAF Champions League before taking them all the way to the semi-final in the same season of 2020-21 but was dismissed before facing Moroccan giants Wydad Casablanca in the last four.

At Black Leopards, Hunt led them to an eighth-place finish in 2001-02, their best-ever in the top flight, and he was voted PSL Coach of the Season, an accolade he also received three times at SuperSport in 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 and with Wits in 2016-17.

Hunt is among five coaches who have won four or more PSL titles, joining Gordon Igesund, Rulani Mokwena and Ted Dumitru, with only Pitso Mosimane ahead with five. He is out there on his own as the coach with more games under his belt, having overtaken Gordon Igesund who has 816.

What was his first top flight game like?

Gavin Hunt’s first top flight game was on July 21, 1998 when his Seven Stars beat AmaZulu 2-1 in a Rothmans Cup play-off, going on to reach the semi-final. His opposite number was the late Clive Barker.

Rothmans Cup Play-off first leg: July 21, 1998

AmaZulu 1 (Magagula 38’) Seven Stars 2 (Dearnley 16’, Jansen 32’)

AmaZulu Starting XI: Wade Du Plessis, Kamaal Sait, Caesar Amasi, Jeffrey Mazibuko, Elasto Lungu, Jabu Mnguni, Warren Lewis, Simon Magagula, Musa Mntakwende, Alban Newman, Ernest Marumo.

Substitutes Used: Thokozani Zungu, Joseph Mlaba, Sifiso Gcaba

Coach: Clive Barker

Seven Stars Starting XI: John Goodwin, Jeremiah Jansen, Andile Sixaba, Sivuyile Qinga, Nelson Dubazana, Bennett Masinga, Mike Mhlanga, Dillon Sheppard, Bernard Gama, George Dearnaley, Tex Mnani

Substitutes Used: Duran Francis, Clifford Moleko, Simphiwe Thomas

Coach: Gavin Hunt