Saving Football

Football’s numbers have exploded in the last 12 months. The Matilda Effect is real. So too the Socceroo effect to a lesser extent. Boys and girls continue to flock to the sport. But there’s a problem. Clubs, mostly run by volunteers, are at capacity, turning players away, struggling to accommodate the ones they have in a facilities sense, and also coaching. How do we navigate a way forward in a complex system to keep these kids playing the game, and falling in love with it?

Out of the big pool of grassroots players, talented ones emerge. Playing fees are astronomical at representative level. Coaching courses are expensive and the reward, in all probability, isn’t a job that will make ends meet. We deep dive into what is being done to develop our kids to a world-class standard.

The domestic league, thanks to the epic failures of APL management, is in a recession. Dangerously so for some clubs, who may not make it through winter. Clubs are bleeding money, the APL can’t even cover the salary cap with distributions down. So what now? How do clubs not wither on the vine?

Both the Matildas and Socceroos set a new standard for themselves at their recent World Cups. But given all that is happening at the levels below, are those high points that will never be reached again? And are those great moments being capitalised on by those running the game?