Gavin Hunt calls for more respect for players after Lee Langeveldt farewell

He was speaking after giving retiring goalkeeper Lee Langeveldt a cameo appearance in their final home game of the season, having served the club from 2017. 

Langeveldt is also the sole survivor in the Stellies squad from the team that gained promotion to the top league in the 2018/19 season, and the coach says he insisted on giving him a few minutes to honour him. 

"I think players in South Africa don't get enough respect. I told him that I was going to bring him on, whether we are 5-0 up or 5-0 down he was going to come on. He looked at me and said 'you don't have to', but he hasn't played in three years."

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Hunt believes South Africa should instil a culture of providing benefit games for players at the end of their careers, something he says died down over the years in the country. 

The 39-year-old Langeveldt has been playing professional football for two decades and turned out for the likes of Santos and Golden Arrows among his other clubs. He had not seen much game time in recent years with Sage Stephens the preferred number one, and Oscarine Masuluke deputising for him.

"I think every player, a guy like Lee should have a benefit game. We need to create a littler bit more history and legacy in our game. We had it earlier in South Africa, but we haven't had it since then. I'm very emotional when it comes to these kind of things."