Every football fan, no matter who they support goes into every new season hoping and sometimes believing that this will be their year. That this is the year they will be promoted, win the league or win the cup. You have to believe as a fan, otherwise why would you waste so much emotion on ‘your club,’ and today, your money.
The sad truth today is that unless you support a number of clubs that dream is never going to come true. Yet football doesn’t like to share the truth, it likes to sell dreams. There is more money to be made from dreams.
This writer was shocked to read just how uncompetitive the football league competitions had become in Europe in the past decade. These leagues have become one-team leagues with few other clubs having any chance of victory. Some of this dominance is put down to the prize money generated by the Champions League, although it is also attributable to the owners of these clubs; states rather than individuals.
One statistic that cannot be ignored is the one that tells us that 11 of Europe’s 13 longest domestic winning streaks have run parrallel to the start of the Champions League back in 1992.
In Latvia Skonto Riga have won 14 league titles between 1991-2004. Gibraltar’s Lincoln Red Imps match that record from 2003-2016. If we look at some of the better known clubs, Rosenborg in Norway have won 13 titles (92-04) Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia have won 11 (06-16), Bayern Munich has won the same number from 2013-2023 in Germany
In 37 years old European Cup there were 19 winners from nine different countries. Since 2004 no club outside of the five major European Leagues have reached the final. Those leagues being English, Spanish, Italian, German and France. The crazy thing is in the old European Cup competition France never had a side win the competition, have made one final, and that is a with a club owned by Qatar. England and Spain have taken 27 finals berths of 40 and won 16 of 20 finals. (As of 2024).
While a European Super League may well have been quashed those closest to the game have said that after next year’s World Cup Finals in the USA, Mexico and Canada, fans should be aware that Champions League games may well be played in the USA or the Arab states, where the owners are based. Some owners are even pushing to take league fixtures to there homelands. It could change the fabric of football forever.
However, sadly it is just another example of how football is no longer the people’s game. It is now all about the money.
The trouble is what happens at the highest level will eventually bite those at the bottom, and we are seeing that more and more now, especially here in Australia.
When the Football Federation of Australia took control of the game they decided that the sport would benefit from coaches being up-skilled. This was an idea with immense merit. However the way the plan was executed has again made it simply look like it was a grab for money.
Having enquired previously we were unable to find a coach who sat an FFA, or now FA C Licence coaching course who has failed the course. They paid their money and all were given a certificate that allowed them to go and coach. Was there any follow up to ensure that they were maintaining the standards expected? How many good coaches who had been around the game walked away because after tens of years coaching they were now being asked to take a coaching course and pay to do so, to learn what they already knew? A course often run by someone whose experience did not even come close.
The problem the FA faced was then finding these coaches work, so they forced clubs to only employ people with coaching credentials. They put in restrictions as to what level coaches could coach certain teams, and then the real killer for many clubs forced them to have a Director of Football to oversee everything.
Whereas, before many of theses coaches were volunteers who were happy to give up their time for the sport they loved, now they were having to pay to be able to carry out that role, the cost to the clubs rose. Some clubs opted to pay for these individuals to sit their coaching course, but once again it has been an additional cost to the clubs.
The real kicker came when the National Premier Leagues (NPL) were created. Here clubs were suddenly forced to have junior teams in all age groups and qualified coaches for those teams. To try and entice the best players the parents of the players were told that if little johnny or Sarah had any aspirations to play professional football they had to be a part of the NPL set up, and play for a NPL Team.
It was obvious that the cost to play football was going to have to go up, because the cost to actually put a team on the pitch had risen substantially. Sadly the standard of football did not rise. Why? The answer was obvious, football has always been a game for everyone, but suddenly it was becoming elitist. Only those who could afford to play for the NPL clubs would play.
To exacerbate the situation when junior State sides were picked the coaches of these teams would only select from the NPL sides. So they assisted in selling the dream to the player and their parents. The child is playing for an NPL side so he must be good; rather recognising that the reason they were playing there was because they could afford them to. When picked for the State they then believe thatthey must be good and that they could turn professional.
The sad thing is very few coaches actually go and scout players. YOu would think now they are being paid this would be th eleast that they would do. How many Technical Directors do? Many players a great deal better and more talented than those representing NPL clubs are playing for other clubs where the fees are not as high. That talent is being completely overlooked.
Of course there are also some opportunists who have seen the chance to make money and have set up academies where they say they will make those handed over to them better players.
It is only fair and right to say that not all of these make such claims. Some responsible academies promote the fact that they will give the children a better understanding of the game, and help them improve their skills so that they get the maximum enjoyment out of playing. After all the key to coaching is getting the best out of a player, making them play to their strengths.
Many academies offer parents the chance to tour Europe with the academy. It is interesting to see how the good one’s promote it as a great experience and opportunity for the players to test themselves against players of a similar age in Europe. Others promote the tour as a series of trials. Once again selling a dream that few will ever live to see fulfilled. .
When one considers that it has been calculated that in England only 180 of the 1.5 million boys playing organised youth football will become a Premier League footballer, chances are very limited. That is a success rate 0.012 per cent.
Football Australia missed a trick when they took over the running of the game. They should have set up a system whereby these academies had to be accredted and the coaches meet certain requirements. They could have even charged an accreditation fee. Had they done this they would have protected many unsuspecting parents from squandering funds on false promises.
However the FA’s system of coach development, and even the structure of the game with the NPL is both a system built on false promises and charging more money than is necessary. If they were really looking to unearth the best football talent in Australia they would have found a way that children of a certain age play for free.
The truth is Football Australia love a little bit of marketing spin. Why else would they have renamed the National Youth Championships?
While there is no problem renaming the championships as a whole, there is calling the two competitions the Emerging Socceroos Championships and the Emerging Matildas Championships. According to the FA press release these newly named competitions “will set a new benchmark in Australia’s elite youth development, reshaping the pathway for Australia’s future.” The question is how?
For the cynics amongst you this is not simply a name change as they went on to explain, “it represents a strategic commitment to strengthening Australia’s football development pathways. By aligning directly with the journey toward senior national team representation through the CommBank Matildas and Subway Socceroos, the new identity enhances the Championships’ visibility, credibility, and impact within both the domestic and global football landscape.’
The Australian youth championships have always been an arena where scouts and coaches go to identify talent, as it is supposed to be the best young players in the country pitting their skills against each other. However, with the system as it is it has become the best payers rather than the best players. However, true talent will always stand out.
One would think that this was a brand new tournament, when it really is just a changing of the name. Yet Football Australia are trying to convince us that they are now “built on the foundation of excellence, opportunity, and innovation.”
That these renamed championships suddenly now thanks to the new name “will serve as the premier talent identification and development platforms in Australian football, shaping future generations and strengthening Australia’s high-performance pathways.” They always used to be when the best players in the various states were selected.
If this really is to be the main source of talent identification the game is in trouble. The system is already seeing players who are not the best in many states being picked for these representative sides, purely because their parents are the ones who can afford to pay the fees to play in the NPL and the NPL is we have been told is the pathway to to the top. Now rather than selling the possibility of playing in the A-Leagues they are now trying to say that if you play in these Championships you will end up playing for the national team. Another dream trying to be sold. A Dream that has simply been repackaged.
From 1950 to 2009 England schoolboys fixture at Wembley was one that was supposed to showcase the next generation of talent coming through. No doubt much like these rebranded national championships. The annual fixture came to an end because the cost of hiring Wembley became prohibitive, especially with dwindling crowds.
However, it was the much respected Howard Wilkinson who urged the English FA to take control of the U15 event. To take it away from the passionate physical education teachers and coaches who had developed these players. So England schools replaced them with the U18’s, who had been playing a fixture since the 1960’s.
Some of the finest 14- and 15-year-olds in the country pulled on the England shirt in these games. The likes of Bobby Charlton and Terry Venables as well as Ryan Giggs (then Wilson – who went to school in Salford) and Michael Owen.
The problem was that these England Schoolboys were not the best young players in the country. They were just some of the better sixth-formers who had stayed on in education, and continued to play football. This is instead of becoming one of the 1,700 apprentices invited to join Premier League or EFL clubs. These players were selected via county teams and a series of trials, many were not even the best college players in the country.
Up against the best young professionals from overseas, the England Schoolboys Under-18 team understandably struggled. They lost the first Under-18 schools international at Wembley, in 1999, 2-1 to Holland. Gary Taylor-Fletcher, was the only member of that team to go on and have a successful professional career, including a season in the Premier League with Blackpool. The others chose to use their academic skills rather than their footballing skills to launch their careers.
The few England Schoolboys players who did manage to win a professional contract, and they became fewer and fewer each year, tended to have prolonged careers, but often in lower league clubs. Goalkeeper Ben Williams, is often held up as being the most, and only notable graduate of the team beaten by Hungary at Wembley in 2000. He was on the books of Manchester United and sat on the first team bench when Fabien Barthez was injured. He has played for 11 clubs, four on loan since then.
Chris Smalling played in 2008 and he would have a successful career at Manchester United and did represent the full international side and also won a League title. Stories like his are few and far between. David Wetherall did win a league title with Leeds in 1992 and Mark Atkins with Blackburn in 1995. Wetherall famously missed the open top bus ride through the city of Leeds as he was studying for exams!
Professional sport is a precarious career path. While the money in Australian football is now far more attractive there are still questions over the standard of the A-Leagues. Many of those with exceptional talent have been picked up by overseas clubs before gracing the A-League. Some will continue to argue that the reason the League is not of the standard it should be is down to the “pathways” that have been created and that talent is being missed due to the cost of playing the game, that and the fact that few clubs invest in a proper scouting system to indentify talent outside of the NPL.
Now we have what was in the past a great tournament to identify national talent being rebranded to make us believe that these players are future internationals. But will they be? Do the lessons learned in England show that such assumptions are no longer true?
Football Australia Board Member and former international player and Chair of Football Australia’s Development Committee was quoted as claiming that the rebranding “marks a transformative step for Australian football, spearheaded by our revitalised Football Development Committee – comprising former Matildas, Socceroos, and leading performance experts. It signals a renewed focus, commitment, and investment across every stage of our development and performance pathways. Far more than a name change, these Championships embody our shared ambition, innovation, and pursuit of excellence – the very qualities that define the CommBank Matildas and Subway Socceroos. By aligning their values and objectives with those of our senior national teams, we are creating clear, structured pathways that allow young players to follow in their heroes’ footsteps while receiving the resources, support, and education they need to thrive.”
Forgive many who have been around the game a long time for their lack of enthusiasm. Whatever way you look at it this is a rebrand, a rebrand built on a false promise, like many of the others within the game. The proof will be in how many of these players actually go on to play Australia. Those who have been around the game a lot longer than this writer have said they do not believe there will be many.
Football Australia CEO James Johnson who rarely misses an opportunity for a soundbyte was quoted as claiming that, “The launch of the Emerging Matildas Championships and Emerging Socceroos Championships marks a defining moment for Australian football. This is more than a name change – it is a fundamental shift in how we develop, identify, educate and nurture the future stars of our game. By aligning these Championships with our national teams, investing in player and coach development, and fostering a high-performance culture, we are creating a world-class pathway for our best young talent to thrive on the international stage.”
It may well be a defining moment, as people may realise in a few years time if we do not see these players excel and become key players in the national teams that this was just spin. Spin that was not underpinned by a system that enabled those with talent to play the game at this level. Instead we will continue with a lazy system in which teams are selected purely from the NPL set-up where players are selected ahead of those with more talent who simply cannot afford the fees to play.
Actions speak louder than words, and a lot of words have been used to try and convince the public and the average fan that this is “more than a name change.” Time will tell, and when that time comes around those behind it will no doubt be long gone.
