Of all the coronavirus content used to disguise the absence of actual sport, a personal favourite has been a small documentary series produced by Optus Sport titled Football Belongs.

The five-minute films were originally intended to precede the coverage of Euro 2020 and highlight the connection between Australian football and various clubs established by European migrants.

Of course the Euros have been postponed, but the images of what has become known as "old football" — the clubs that nurtured the game and contested the national league until the establishment of the A-League — have struck a chord with those who believe football has strayed too far from its roots.

While it hasn't quite reached The Last Dance-sized audiences, Football Belongs has had hundreds of thousands of views across various platforms.

As series producer and Offsiders panellist Dave Davutovic wrote: "If one can't see the positive connection between ethnic communities and Australian football, and broader assimilation, then they're not trying very hard."

Watching the passionate engagement of the volunteers at clubs driven by their Croatian, Macedonian, Italian, Dutch and other European heritage, and being reminded that so many influential figures such as Mark Viduka, Ange Postecoglou, Tony Popovic, Mark Bosnich, Mile Jedinak and Stan Lazaridis were quite literally born and raised in this environment, it is difficult to disagree.

Although, even as you consider the nostalgic images of grassroots clubs and their famous alumni, it is important to remember nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

Issues such as crowd violence caught most of the non-football media's attention before the National Soccer League (NSL) folded, but there were also systemic financial and governance problems that meant the league, in its historic form, was a clunky vehicle in which to navigate the road ahead.

Personally, having spent some time on NSL terraces there was a sense that as an outsider — a "skip" as my Greek and Italian school friends called me — you could be a welcome visitor, but never quite a fully fledged member.

In that regard, I was an advocate of the A-League, believing the new clubs could aggregate both the fans and the passion of the NSL while adding a new layer of largely Anglo-Aussie fans who had fallen in love with football through increased coverage of foreign leagues and the success of the Socceroos.

Yet in the brutal and officially mandated way Football Federation Australia (FFA) stripped away the game's ethnic heritage — with the National Club Identity Policy banning clubs from being tied to ethnic, national, political, racial or religious symbols up until last year — you can see why some of the game's true believers feel the new competition has exorcised the game's multicultural soul rather than embracing it.

The consequence is that while there is a strong connection between A-League supporters and their clubs, there remains a missing link with the roots of the game.

This in turn helps explain the vast discrepancy between the game's enormous participation numbers and the now potentially ruinous TV viewing figures for the A-League.

Football needs to find cash injection with broadcaster wavering

As the NRL powers into another round of V'landysball and the AFL prepares to start again, Fox Sports is demanding a substantial cut to its $57 million annual fee before the A-League cameras roll again. This is not surprising in the current environment, even less so to those who suspect the pay-per-view provider wants out of the deal altogether.

Meanwhile, News Corp reported on Thursday that the $3.5 million licence fee check from new club Macarthur FC is not yet in the mail, thus stalling the arrival of yet more income the FFA desperately needs to remain operational during this costly hiatus.

The pending announcement of hosting rights for the 2023 Women's World Cup could potentially provide some very good news for Australian football. Otherwise, the current outlook seems bleak.

In this context, Football Belongs was not merely a timely reminder of the game's past. Plans for a national second-tier competition have created optimism among some of the featured clubs that they could again have a strong competitive presence beyond their state leagues.

This provides obvious challenges. For instance, would the inclusion of South Melbourne Hellas in a second tier mean Hellas fans who now support Melbourne Victory withdraw their allegiance, particularly if a promotion/relegation model is introduced?

While the cash-strapped FFA has a number of expensively produced "national strategies" gathering dust on the shelves, the answer might lie with the state federations that control a large proportion of the game's assets and nurture the grassroots clubs.

The most innovative states are sourcing government grants to build the facilities required to ensure thousands of would-be players are not turned away. For the states, the current number of A-League clubs is insufficient to service the competitive aspirations of 1.9 million participants.

Giving strong ethnically based clubs practical support and the lure of a national second-tier competition might inspire even greater commitment and make that challenge of connecting the game from bottom to top easier.

Another cause for optimism is the reputational improvement created by the FFA's so-called "proper football people", with chairman Chris Nikou and chief executive James Johnson benefitting from a strong connection to the game's traditional clubs in the early stages of their reign.

As one state official said: "It's so good to be able to pick up the phone and have a genuine football conversation with someone who understands the game."

The recent involvement of many of the ex-Socceroos, including Viduka from the Golden Generation, has provided another potential link between old and new football.

While a sharp right foot doesn't help solve the many intricate financial and social problems the game confronts, it is another way for the decades of know-how contained in those old ethnic clubs to find its way into the rooms where decisions are being made.

In troubled times, this is a welcome sign that football, and footballers, belong.