Absolutely you cannot force clubs to become development clubs, however we need to accept that as a league we are a development league. So there may be a club like City who want to be up there with the biggest clubs in Asia, which is fine. But the league as a whole will still be a development league. Denying that in the short to medium term the league is anything different will just result in more stagnation imo. 

We basically at the moment are trying to be a big league in Asia but the owners dont want to spend money to facilitate this. We are sorting just waiting for it to happen. An example is, big name players. CSL, MLS and more recently J league every season continually make big name signing after big name signing. This has a flow on effect of more players being interested because of perceived prestige, which flows on to more media exposure, sponsorship doillars, etc. We have had Dwight Yorke then no massive signings for 7 years, then we had Heskey ADP, Ono then nothing for 4 years where we got cahill. Then 18 months later we get (albeit a good attempt) in Honda, but his profile was never big enough to carry it on his own.

Developing talent (which this list shows their is plenty) and on selling is a better league model for fans and football. So unless clubs want to spend big every season this is a more realistic model

Outstanding thread

Thank you. 

Someone who I may have overlooked wrongly is Thymos ‘Tim’ Caroutas who has been in first team squads consistently for Spanish third tier side UE Cornella, has made his pro debut and was on the bench this morning in the Copa Del Rey vs. Barcelona. Called up to a Joeys squad in mid 2019, he spent 14 months sidelined with injuries and missed out subsequently on the 2019 U17 World Cup. He’s a quick forward. 

Let see how quick the domestic transfer system gets implemented and how much the clubs embrace it.

Marquee players are not bad but as long they make an impact, I do think there is a place for both if the clubs invest.

Peupion scores again for Brighton. That's 7 goals & 1 assist (maybe 1 or 2 today?) from 11 games & at least one of those games he played Right Back, but mostly CAM. 

Big weekend of news for many of these. Armiento doesn't appear to be on the list. 

Armiento was born in 1999 - he is too old for this list. 

@sportaddict, before I fully absorb the list I just want to say thank you, great post. 

I am personally hoping Niewenhof, Dukuly and the Toure brothers really do well. I also like that we seem to have some skilful bigger lads. I can’t wait until we unearth another Viduka, someone with skill to match size and power!

Thanks mate, I really enjoy doing this and it’s really gratifying to see others enjoying it and finding it interesting. 

Patrick Wood, you can add another to the list of youngsters doing well this season, scoring he’s first 2 goals in this level tonight. 

https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/hammond-heist-peru-bid-to-poach-portugal-based-aussie-brothers

Very worrying. Tristan Hammond is a really outstanding prospect. Australia should be doing absolutely everything to keep him. He, Ryan Teague and Caleb Watts were imo our best players at the U17 WC. 

Yep, that’s exactly why I had him on the list. He was outstanding in NPL, every goal he scored was different which says a lot about his ability. For a pacy striker he has a lot more than pace to his game which is impressive and he makes smart runs and understands the game. Good player. 

Just concerned that with Bobo back he might not get that game time again, I can see Corica continue to persist with Buhagiar or Kosta B up front when Wood has come in and made an impact and he's only 18 too.

Its good to see Sydney FC finally start to use their academy more often now, even though they have left go of some good talent to other clubs here and overseas in recent times.

Just stumbled across this (better late than never).  Fantastic post mate, lots to be excited about!!

Lack of football unfortunately has impacted a lot of our younger players, particularly in Portugal, Spain and Germany.  Guys like the Hammond brothers, Rafael Rech and Cooper Skerry haven't seen much game time in over a year.  

Would love your take on a few players that have been making an impact but don't seem to have been mentioned much here. Antonis Martis, who did well enough at youth levels in Denmark to get a loan to Macarthur and now seems to be going alright against "men".  Alberto del Grosso who has played with Australian youth teams, did well at youth level in Italy and is now floating between 3rd and 4th tiers playing senior football.  Liam Chipperfield, who may be a long shot to represent Australia, but at the age of 16, has now signed a pro contract based on his impact at youth levels for Basel.  Caroutas, you mentioned, has been in Spain for several years but making a break through now along with a few other Aussies in Spain like Danzo and Mesourouni.  Zak Gilsenan is only 17 but he is up with the U23's at Blackburn, also having a break out season.

Aquilina and Pierias coming along very nicely

Agreed. Antonis Martis has also impressed me a lot. Kai Trewin too. He’s been absolutely outstanding. Him and Natta are long term Socceroos centre backs. 

Gauci isn't even on this list but is clearly the best U21 goalkeeper we have.

He should be on this list. Just very hard to assess a player who’d never played in the A-League or for Aussie youth teams. Pavlesic is a better talent imo, though he needs game time to reach his potential just like Gauci and Delianov have been getting 

Adrian Segecic (2004), who I considered for my list but excluded him on grounds of lack of high-level football, has excelled this season for Sydney FC's NPL1 1st grade side, and is now training with the A-League side. Big hopes for him. 

Year nearly over and such a spread of achievements and players missing the mark this year. Fairly standard.

Now's the time where I start preparing next year's list! Longlist already collated. 

Ill say it again, the kids who played some NPL before they went overseas are in a much better position than a-league academy boys. 

Hosine Bility - sat on bench few times at 20 years old in europa league this season. Clearly has a future with a contract til 2024 with midjytland
Alexander Robertson - although not playing regularly atm, hes training and working with a mens team now every day at 19.
Ryan Teague - Established first team player at 19 in Portuguese 2nd division with 10 starts this season.
Alou Kuol - Killing it in Stuttgart 2nd team 18 games and 7 goals. Has been training with the first team on the regular.

All played at least a season in NPL and it made them better for it - playing against men week in week out.

Playing NPL as a 16-17 year old is much better for your development than an aleague academy - prove me wrong.

Not disagreeing with you, but don't the A-League academies play NPL?

Yes but playing and training with men is different to playing and training with your mates/guys same age.

Teague was at Sydney from age 13. 

The best ALM club academy players are playing against men in the open age teams in the NPL competitions during winter.  They also often train with the ALM squad and some even are named in the ALM match day squad and get subbed on during the ALM season.  Their development could be improved if the ALM started a 2nd grade competition during summer for all the ALM clubs.

Look forward to it mate. Thanks for going to the effort