It's been nearly 20 years since the Crawford report (2003), was released, outlining how football in Australia needed to be reformed, and when I think about it, I think football in Australia has progressed quite well, although there are still many issues that need to be addressed.

With the positives, since 2005, Australia has qualified for five successive World Cups, if someone told me prior to 2005, that Australia would qualify for the World Cup five times in a row, I'd think they were crazy. Putting Australia in the Asian confederation was the best decision ever made, although qualifying via Asia is harder, it's a much fairer system than the old Oceania route, where once the Socceroos breezed past the weak Oceania teams, it basically came down to, two very tough games against either a South American or European opponent (eg,Scotland in 1985). Also, playing against quality Asian teams will lift the standard of the Socceroos, I'd rather beat Japan 2-1, than some weak Oceania team by 10,20 nil etc.

Although the A-League has had it issues (and still does), it's a massive improvement on the old NSL it replaced, for the first 10 odd years of the A-League the crowds were generally pretty good, even regular season matches like your local derbies (Sydney FC v Western Sydney Wanderers), were often sold out (this never happened in the NSL), and I recall attending a regular season match back in late 2016 between Sydney FC v WSW at the Olympic stadium and the attendance was 61,000.

As for the negatives, junior development has been neglected, and the decision to scrap the football division of the old AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) has been a disaster, the AIS produced many great footballers, and I hope the management of Football Australia are seriously looking at issue of junior and elite player development. Another serious issue is the increasing cost of playing football for amateur players, the beauty of football is that it's working class man's sport that should relatively cheap to play, jacking up player registration costs will drive people away from football.

And before the old NSL apologists start beating their chests on how "good" the old NSL supposedly was (some of it was OK, but it was mostly crap), FACTS don't give two shits about your feelings, the Socceroos never qualified for any WC during the 27 failed years the NSL (1977-2004), and the crowds were mostly pathetic (in terms of numbers,not the ethnicity).

Just my 2c worth.

Welcome to the forum.

i think youth development has improved iut of sight for u14 but then most get lost in the next crucial seven or so years

a nsd will help. If the government can subsidize rego for kids that would help too

Pathetic numbers wise or ethnicity of spectators?

Do   you   happen   to   know   by    just   how   much   rego   fees   have   increased    over   the   last  ,  say ,  4   years ?

if we beat the argies they will do massive things towards it. 

If we beat the argies with a Kuol goal then the other codes might as well pack up their stuff and go home. 

We can only dream lol. 

not personally. The club I went to as a kid is still pretty cheep actually. I think it is just elite pathways that are rediculously expensive right?

HAHAHAHAAH quote of the day :)

:)

Feisty opening post from a newby. I think the major flaw in your argument is that Oz was trapped in Oceania during the entirety of the relevant period. This was also the period when FIFA went out of their way to make sure Israel couldn't make the WC Finals after what happened at the Munich Olympics (there may have been other Middle East political reasons also). Accordingly, they obliged Israel to play off against the Oceania champion, an arrangement to which we meekly submitted, and then forced the winner of that tie to play off against (usually) a Euro or Sth American superpower. This was because FIFA didn't give a fuck about Oceania but did not, under any circumstances want Israel at the finals. This meant we had little chance of qualifying, no matter how good our player pathways.

In fact, the first time we qualified in 32 years was via Oceania in a playoff against Uruguay. This was the so-called Golden Generation, almost all of whom were bred and born in the NSL. 

The NSL made a huge contribution to Oz football and the many ethnic clubs that featured in the NSL kept the flickering flame of football alive in this country. It may have had its problems, much exacerbated by the anti-football media which feared (and continues to fear) the Sleeping Giant, but there's no denying the NSL produced some brilliant Socceroos.

So yes, on many grounds, football has improved in the last 20 years but it could have been so much better. Hopefully we are at last on the brink of something really big.

Sorry, I meant numbers wise, not ethnicity

Thanks, registration costs have to come down, and subsidised registrations would be a good idea.

So   registration   costs   are   too   high  ?  Do   you   happen   to   know   by   just  how  much   registration    costs    have   increased   over    the   last ,  say  ,  4   years?

Good post SR.

We would not have achieved anywhere near as much had things not changed in 2004

It' s   been   quite   incredible .

Finally having kids who are coming through who only know the A-League so I think after a rough transition, things will slowly get better.

To counter complacency, we need to connect grassroots and professionalism for the next objective. 

For sure. The NSD will be terrific in that regard but is only part of the improvements we should aim for.

Haven't kept up with this, but a family member mentioned she will be paying $800 for her 8-year-old to play soccer. In my mind, way too much.

Good post, and you have made many great points.
 
I do understand that many of the ethnic clubs did (and still do) contribute to football in Australia, and that a lot of the mismanagement of football in the NSL era was not their fault, but the fault of the game's governing body (the old ASF, later SA), I also understand that there are still elements in the Australian media who hate football (especially channel 7).

As bad as the NSL was, after the first ten years or so (the late 1980's), the standard of the NSL did improve to the point where Australian players were being pursued by European clubs, and yes the NSL did produce some outstanding Socceroos eg. Mark Schwarzer, Mark Bresciano, Scott Chipperfield, Mark Viduka, Brett Emerton etc. But at the same time, many of the NSL clubs were badly run, even some of my Greek-Australian friends who are mad Sydney Olympic fans often expressed their anger at how badly their club was run, myself (an Italian- Australian) I was equally appalled by how badly both Apia and Marconi were run.

And I hope you're right, hopefully the Socceroos successful World Cup campaign, takes the game here in Australia to new heights of popularity.

$800 ?!  

If   that   is   true ,   what   on   earth   is   FA   doing ??

$800.00 for an 8 year old kid?, that's extortion, the FFA better address this issue urgently, otherwise player numbers are going to drop like a stone.

We can dare to dream, but Argentina and Lionel Messi are going to be one huge mountain for the Socceroos to climb, I suppose the only thing that could get the Socceroos over the line against Argentina, is if Argentina take Australia lightly, like they did with Saudi Arabia, but anyway, win,lose or draw, lets be proud of the Socceroos, they have performed well above expectations.

That rego $800 at that age must be SAP at least or an academy.
no way will local club grass roots football cost that much.
Playing in O45’s as I do is on $400.
My 2 grown boys different matter NPL and SL different scale.

Sure thread starter makes some good and known points - NSL foundations laid but upper management sucked at the same time they were pigeon holed and didn’t know how to break out.
Clubs also were their own worst enemy but at least kept producing quality players.
Pretty similar today - some are badly run AL Clubs But thankfully they and NPL have improved with the times of training development but we need both levels working as one to the bottom that I’m afraid may or may not happen.
NSD up and running meant for 24 can’t come soon enough for its existence if showing what’s expected may force change in the future of a pyramid.
We can’t keep having 2 separate comps looking ahead 10/20yrs,  will maintain resistance between both forces.

We have come along way but also we have plenty to improve on as well.

With an NSD coming in along with the DTS there is room for improvement to further grow.

Hopefully we see more investment into the game especially in youth development and grassroots which will keep the momentum going too.

until we have at least 2 division i dont think i will ever stop bagging the FA for being shit - ill leave it at that 

AMEN to that.

https://twitter.com/OptusSport/status/1598267426059100162

100 percent support this 

A belated welcome to the forum SR1968, sorry I took your original few postings as the same old tired "effniks bad, Aleague good" crap that gets thrown around over and over and over again.  
Your comment above is a fairly accurate summary of why the NSL failed... The clubs were/are run by "enthusiastic" volunteers with all the limitiations that brings. EVERY fan at some stage expresses anger at how badly their club is run, just ask some of the Risbane, Perth, Nexwastle fans on here for eexample :)  Non-effnik clubs folded in the past than more "mainstream franchise" ones btw... The fact that Apia, Marconi and Sydney Olympic are STILL alive 50 years later is a testament to their communities resilience and passion... again my opinion.
20 years of Aleague has indeed seen some commercial success but in my opinion, not enough to justify the 18 years of division and hate the plastic revolution brought.

I remember seeing a prominent Brisbane club charging $800 for miniroos. Between $500 to $800 is your standard price. SAP is $2,000 +. It's a bit like education in our country we narrow the stream and are left with a smaller base and wonder why we cannot compete on an international standard. The vast majority of people who won't pay those prices are left out or moved to other sports. Any clown telling kids we'll turn you into a professional at 8 to 12 is either lying or misleading people. Need more people involved in the game not fewer. 

Welcome to the forum, SR.

Cost of football rego fees is an issue.

I might be biased, because I've been involved with underage youth development at the bottom end of the Football Aus pathway.

The National Curriculum content has created far better tactical players, and players  who can fit into national teams seamlessly. Originally,  National Tech Dirs, Baan and Berger, identified Aus players and teams, as having,

 these weaknesses: 

*tactically naive and poorly educated on team structures,

 *teams could not play at different rhythms,

*were technically and tactically incapable of playing out from the back through midfield at the required  international  level,

*had to work too hard to maintain possession of the ball,

*lImited technically - first touch, striking the ball, 1v1 attacking skills, running with the ball - it takes a long time to improve technique and it isn't easy,

* poor education in onfield  communication,

* Aus struggled to produce number Tens and controlling midfielders,

* essentially Aus had a style of Reactive football to capitalise on opponents' mistakes, not to play proactive football to create chances forom structured possession and attacking interplay. 

 Strengths;  

*being athletic,

 *strong physically,

 *mental strength,

*great commitment and will to win,

*produced good shot stopping goalkeepers.

So a National Curriculum was devised to improve the weaknesses and maintain the strengths. It was based on world football powerhouses.

Foreign coaches from the powerhouses, initially  struggled to coach A L players, and Aus youth players, devoid of essential football knowledge.

Fast forward and only some nations have coaches tactically good enough to coach the new generation of highly educated Aussie players. The most successful AL coaches tend to be from the  powerhouses where we've acquired the NC - Netherlands, France, Germany, Spain - and of course our new generation of highly educated domestic coaches. Now our coaches are starting be recruited overseas.

The great weakness of the supposed GG, was that they were tactically naive and they struggled to combine cohesively as a Socceroo team unit. 32 years of failure to qualify for a World Cup substantiates this.

A big strength  to the GG is that many are pundits who love  big noting their era. Most Aussie players who've retired since circa 2012, are much more modest and circumspect about their football era. Many of the GG were used to being feted and adulated by fans and media at big European clubs. They felt superior to opposition players  playing in  the AFC.

The 2006 WC team only qualified for the WC, by beating Uruguay, through importing football powerhouse coaching methodology outside  Aus.

Having said that the GG produced some good players. However, there are lots of videos out from the epoch of 1993 -2005. Few of those players  prior to 2006,  and even 2006, would be good enough to displace most of the current starting Socceroo  line up in Qatar. 

Arnie would undoubtedly play Kewell instead of Leckie or Goodwin, possibly play Bresciano for McGree, and possibly Culina for Irvine, but no others.  

Many current Socceroos are battle hardened international  players, who've played a lot of football using highly sophisticated tactics, in unfamiliar places culturally and climatically in Asia.

 Leckie, Behich,  Mooy, Irvine, Ryan, Degenek, Wright  and even Duke, Maclaren, Goodwin, are highly experienced in the international milieu, and at  executing sophisticated tactics and game plans. 

Remember the GG's Asian Cup flop in 2007.  It is a salutary reminder of their quality.