Gavin Hunt reveals that he first declined Stellenbosch FC job

Hunt was officially unveiled today as replacement for Steve Barker, who has since moved on to Simba SC in Tanzania. 

The experienced coach says it was more about timing than anything, and he’s glad they finally reached an agreement to bring him back to the Western Cape.

"So basically I mean I think football is always genuinely about timing, so this was never planned. Obviously with Steve leaving they started their process of interviewing coaches as I was told and Rob phoned me and said, would you be interested in the job. I said 'no',” Hunt said. 

“So it sort of went from there and the process started and there was a process of whatever would happen behind the scenes and then he said he'll get back to me and that was it. 

“The timing perspective obviously for me was great because obviously it was very sudden what happened there, it happened so quickly. As I said sometimes a job is a timing thing and sometimes you can't really plan these types of things.

“It's a great football club, well run, well structured. Who wouldn't wanna be in this environment? Great staff and that's important for me."

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He says the most important thing for him right now is getting support from the club in trying to dig them out of the hole they find themselves in this season, but admitted that results will determine his future there. 

Before leaving in December, Barker was the longest serving coach in the country having been at Stellies since 2017.

"Well if you look from a distance, obviously a lot of clubs have a great stability over the eight, nine years, which is what you want. This has obviously been a difficult period for the staff that have been here because now you are bringing somebody new and it wasn't expected,” he explained.

“So, from my perspective obviously if you look at all the jobs, I've been seven, eight years, six years and obviously the reason why I left it's because it was being sold or you've been fired. 

“So, there's been some honest conversations that I've had with the management which is good but results determine those things. The bottom line is you've gotta get results."