Gavin Hunt aims to restore Durban City FC’s former glory

VETERAN Premier Soccer League (PSL) coach Gavin Hunt said he plans on bringing Durban City FC, formerly Maritzburg United, back to match-winning potential as the side returns to Premiership football this season.

Hunt was speaking to the media at the BMW Durban South facility, where the Chatsworth-based team unveiled a new partnership with the luxury car brand. 

A small fleet of BMW cars was gifted to Durban City officials on Tuesday, among which were club chairperson Farook Kadodia and technical director Ernst Middendorp.

Stability is one of Hunt’s main focus points going into the PSL season, saying that he believes the club still has good bones and just needs to make a few signings to get the ball rolling again. 

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“They’ve still got the nucleus of the team from last year (when they won the Motsepe Foundation Championship), and even though I read in the media that they changed everything and people have left, when I got here, the majority of the players were still here,” said Hunt.

“They must have had a very small squad last year which I like but obviously we need to add in a few numbers. 

“The approach is to just concentrate on getting stability and concentrate on being proactive and winning football matches which is always going to be difficult with the market. It’s a very difficult market and a very difficult league so a lot of games can go either way. 

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Gavin Hunt, head coach of Durban City FC, says the teams former nucleus is in tact. Hunt’s approach going into the season will focus in brining stability to the side. @IOLsport pic.twitter.com/nVN1lTFJhZ

— Jehran Daniel (@JehranD) July 22, 2025

“(You have to) go in smaller steps and set smaller goals, and try to achieve those before you think of the end line or before people make statements about winning this or that.

“Lets try and crawl a little before we walk. The time is short so we have to work very hard behind the scenes,” added Hunt. 

The 61-year-old said he’s already got an idea of what the team has and needs in the two weeks he’s been at the helm. 

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“We don’t want square pegs in round holes. We want a certain type of player with a character that will fit a club like this. They need to have the right mentality and obviously the ability. We don’t just want good players, but the players that we need,” he said. 

“We are obviously short in certain areas so it’s a bit of having a look, trying to train, trying to get a system in place and trying to find a way of playing all at once. You are trying to do a million things and as I said, time is short.

“We are going to Joburg next week which will help me a lot because we got a couple of games there. The game will tell you what you need. You can train all day but the game tells you what you need. 

“I’ve been here for two weeks now and can see what we got and what we don’t have,” Hunt explained.