For me that's a yes and no. I know for a fact a scouter that lives there linked to Celtic - he's not particularly active these days but he has people's ear, and if you're good enough to get him to roll out of bed on the weekend and watch you he can get you to Scotland. There's a bit of an inner circle thing going on in Canberra with some of the core football fraternity we identify as Sydney figures actually being Canberra residents. It's very much a case, indeed as you say, that there's talent in among rubbish. You need to be at a couple of decent clubs and know the right people to get scouted there. In my own experience I would say 5 scouters are capable  (as in, I saw the proof of one player they got o/s). In each case these guys aren't actively involved in the NPL clubs, they just have the connections because they're migrants from o/s.

The big fish small pond mentality works against players who don't have connections, and like NPL football in general there's nowhere to go if you're good enough to rise but have no stepping stone. I tried for a good 12 months to get a young kid into one of the big Capital football teams - African kid with massive potential. It only turned out half way though this all that he played U18 Development League in England for a bloody big EPL club. And that wasn't him telling us, that was us doing our own research trying to find a way to fill the blank bit in his resume that looked like he'd never kicked a bloody football in his life. Bit of a "could've fkn told us mate" there. But as it goes with a lot of kids - no stepping stone and a doctor father riding him to get a real job meant career over. And this kid was a more complete package than Awer Mabil when Adelaide United took a punt on him.

The FFA would be stupid not to simply replace the 10 youth league teams with the 10 bids and create a second tier. Then at the end of the year promote 2 teams

Football already has system for choosing which teams are ready to invest and step up, and which ones have stopped performing

No American consultancy fee required either

The youth league is important  

The FFA would be stupid not to simply replace the 10 youth league teams with the 10 bids and create a second tier. Then at the end of the year promote 2 teams

Football already has system for choosing which teams are ready to invest and step up, and which ones have stopped performing

No American consultancy fee required either

The youth league is important  

The youth league is important  

The youth league does not have to be national and does not need to be funded by the FFA. Clubs can manage their own youth systems by integrating their teams into the state leagues. I believe some of these already do this

The second tier will be an unofficial league for the best youth and fringe state league players to perform on a central platform.

The youth league does not have to be national and does not need to be funded by the FFA. Clubs can manage their own youth systems by integrating their teams into the state leagues. I believe some of these already do this

The second tier will be an unofficial league for the best youth and fringe state league players to perform on a central platform.

In what way does the FFA fund the NYL other than transport and central costs?

Why would the 2nd tier be an unofficial league?

Do you mean "best youth and fringe A-League players"?

It has been said part of the FFA grant to clubs helps fund the youth league teams, and that expansion teams may get less of a grant as they are not required to have a youth league or w league team

A second tier (230 spots) will comprise of youth, state league players, fringe A League players and low cost imports

If you do research on player transfers I think you'll find only a small combined % comes from the youth league and state league. Most transfers are imports or other A League players. It is obvious neither the NPL or youth league has worked as a player development platform. A second tier with its fierce competitive nature, additional local funding sources and central platform (as opposed to the NPL) will change that

There is no doubt that a tougher 2nd tier competition will be good for player development but it doesn't deal with the issue of young players not getting enough game time when compared with other countries and an NYL even with only 8 games ( and preferably more) on top of NPL games goes closer to the international standard.

Young players don't get enough game time because there are only 9 Australian teams and all of them are top of the table clubs

Removing the balance will enable bottom team clubs to be predominately youth as we saw with CCM and GCU in their worst seasons. A second tier will also be predominately youth because the resources will be lower and it will be semi pro. This will only change if the initial demands are a professional structure with a minimum wage

19 clubs in total means 361 players plus whatever NZ can muster, and that's on the assumption each team uses their full international quota. There is plenty of room for young players to work their way through the system. Currently concerns about youth are addressed purely from a quantity point of view. A fierce second tier means the players coming into the top tier will be addressing the issue from a quality point of view

10% of players coming through the youth league is not a good reflection when the A League has a 13% youth quota. If teams are by passing their own youth system then its not better than a second tier

I hear what you're saying, there is no doubt you need to know people. One thing i have seen is that why many of the youngsters in canberra are technically good enough it takes at least 12 months of intensive work to get their fitness levels up enough to compete certainly in the UK. I was involved in sending a kid who didnt have anywhere near the required fitness and as a result he failed. He is now back in the NPL system but has dropped off as a result of the disappointment. 

I really hope Thomas James is prepared to put in the work because he is a genuine talent