Cape Town – Venezuelan striker Juan Carlos Ortíz is one of seven players released after their Stellenbosch FC contracts expired.
The 29-year-old Spanish national has returned to his homeland after a season-and-a-half in South Africa with Stellenbosch. He arrived at the club during the 2022 January transfer window and scored twice in his first five league appearances for the club, before being curtailed by a knee injury on the final day of the 2021/22 campaign.
The other six players are Reid Bombay, Keegan Pool, Solomon Letsoenyo, Solly Khunyedi, Lance Weaver and Glen Hahn.
Goalkeeper Bombay has been the understudy to Sage Stephens and Lee Langeveldt over the past two seasons. He made his senior debut and solitary appearance for the club during last month’s DStv Premiership clash against SuperSport United and marked the occasion by keeping a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw.
Another shot-stopper, Keegan Pool (25) arrived at the club in 2017 and was part of the squad that won promotion to the top flight from the National First Division two years later.
Pool’s on-field contributions were limited after he was sidelined by a prolonged period of illness, but he showed exemplary determination and resilience in his recovery to play himself back into first-team contention last season.
Letsoenyo (25) made his debut as a late substitute in the 3-0 Cape Derby win over Cape Town City in March 2021, and went on to make 21 appearances for the senior team across all competitions.
The left-footer’s contributions included a sensational match-winning goal against Baroka FC that was one of the club’s goals of the season during the 2021/22 campaign.
Khunyedi (22) joined Stellenbosch from Bidvest Wits in 2020 and made a total of 29 appearances for the first team, all of which came in the DStv Premiership. He also played a prominent role in the club’s reserve side throughout his time in the Winelands and helped the team famously lift the 2021/22 DStv Diski Challenge trophy.
Weaver (23) is another member of the club’s DStv Diski Challenge-winning side who will be leaving the club after making four appearances for the first team. He made his debut in a 3-1 win over Royal AM at the start of last season before spending the second half of the campaign on loan at NFD side Ubuntu Cape Town.
Hahn made the step up from the neighbouring Maties FC at the start of last season. He started his Stellenbosch career with back-to-back starts against Marumo Gallants and Orlando Pirates en route to featuring seven times in total. His last outing came in the famous 3-2 come-from-behind win over Cape Town City in January, a result that sparked a seven-match unbeaten run for the club across all competitions.
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