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It started with a tweet. This is how the SA Football Association broke the news on the morning of September 3 2018 that then Bafana Bafana head coach Stuart Baxter had called up his son, Lee Baxter, as the team’s goalkeeper coach ahead of South Africa’s 2019 Afcon qualifier against Libya in Durban.
Baxter Junior came in as a stand-in for regular trainer Andre Arendse, who had withdrawn from the squad due to family commitments.
The move was met with some criticism and scepticism, while Baxter senior spent the better part of the training having to justify his decision.
In a recent one-on-one interview with City Press, Lee said he somehow expected the backlash.
“I expected people to have the opinion, which everyone is entitled to. It’s just that when you’re inside the four walls you know the story is different,” recalled the Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper coach.
“That point in time for the Libya camp, I was honoured that I got a call-up. And I was grateful for the club to let me go. Obviously I had to be on top of my game because at the end of the day the coach is also my father.
“I didn’t expect anything else because as a player I played under Stuart [at club level]. I never got anything for free. In fact, I had to work double as hard more than anyone else just to get selected.
“We have a very clear working relationship if we’ve worked together that – coach/player or coach and coach – father/son is totally separate and there is no preferential treatment at all.
“But it’s been a great experience for me to work with the top players in the country and I also felt that I became a better coach.”
Baxter Senior resigned from Bafana in August, a few days after the team finished in the quarterfinals of the Afcon finals in Egypt.
• Read the full interview of Lee Baxter with City Press here
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