Hunt tops if he wins Telkom
Gavin Hunt will rank the best South Africanborn coach to date if Wits can overcome Bloemfontein Celtic in the Telkom Knockout final next month.
Gavin Hunt’s four league championship wins with SuperSport United and Bidvest Wits over the last decade already guarantee him a place among the most successful coaches in domestic football history, but victory in the Telkom Knockout next month will ensure he ranks the best South African-born coach yet. Hunt’s Wits team will take on Bloemfontein Celtic in the final in Durban on 2 December as the 53-year-old looks to complete a full set of all the trophies on offer to a local coach. On top of his four league titles, Hunt has also won the MTN8 and the Nedbank Cup, and is now seeking the Telkom Knockout to enhance an already remarkable record. Only British-born Jeff Butler, who died this year, and Ted Dumitru, originally from Romania and who passed away in May 2016, have a better record with four league titles each and a clean sweep of cup trophies too. Dumitru won the FA Cup (Nedbank Cup) twice to one for Butler and the League Cup (Telkom Knockout) three times to Butler’s two. Butler won two Top Eight trophies compared to one for Dumitru. Among South African-born coaches Gordon Igesund is the closest challenger to Hunt with four league titles and a solitary cup success in the Top Eight. Clive Barker won three league titles with now defunct Durban City and Bush Bucks and uniquely also the 1996 African Nations Cup title in charge of Bafana Bafana. Hunt’s team on Saturday edged out 10-men Kaizer Chiefs to book their place in the final despite a surprisingly poor run of league form in recent months. He is hoping the cup fever will inspire improved performances in the league, starting with tonight’s match at home to Mamelodi Sundowns. Hunt won his first trophy in 2004 when his then Moroka Swallows side defeated Manning Rangers 3-1 in the FA Cup final. His second victory was in 2012 with SuperSport as they defeated Sundowns, but he lost in the next two finals in a row after that. At Wits, he won last year’s MTN8 with a 3-0 demolition job over Sundowns in the final in Nelspruit. Saturday’s victory marked Hunt’s 745th match as coach of a club with 323 wins 206 draws and 216 defeats. He started in 1998 with Seven Stars and has since coached Hellenic, Black Leopards, Swallows, SuperSport and Wits.