The importance of the professional football coach in Australia

Bobby Walker was the first professional football coach appointed in Australia when he took the helm at the Gladesville-Ryde club in 1939. Walker had played professionally in Scotland for Motherwell FC and Falkirk FC.

He was the first of many from the British Isles to venture to the footballing outpost that was Australia for much of the 20th century. The contributions that he and many others made played an important role in the growth and development of the game.

Sadly, the notion of fully professional coaches mentoring young players in their formative years has been more of a dream than a reality in Australian football. Enthusiastic parents often took on official duties at a grass roots level and the number of officially qualified coaches in schools has traditionally been low.

The reality for players blessed with talent not deemed worthy of representative level play; those perhaps destined to bloom and flourish as a player a little later in life, is that the influence of a professional to guide and nourish their football development is rarely a reality.

In recent times, parents keen to encourage and fast track their child’s development have sought other avenues. As a result, the unregulated and often absurdly expensive academy system has become a necessary evil for parents of talented and enthusiastic young footballers.

It is a somewhat surprising reality that it took nearly 80 years from the time of Walker’s appointment for a fully professional coaches association to appear. It is long overdue. There is a current and urgent need to ensure that the hundreds of thousands of young people playing football in Australia are given qualified and professional instruction.

Conjointly, immediate action is required to reform/rewrite the National Curriculum which has proven nothing but a failure.

With an intention to represent, advocate, develop and support professional coaches, Football Coaches Association (FCA) will play a key role in addressing such issues.

The association’s work extends beyond the obvious need to continually improve coaching standards in Australia. It is also focused on providing opportunities for professional and community based coaches to contribute to Australia’s football narrative.

As an extension of both a raising of the bar in terms of professional standards and providing a supportive, community based and inclusive environment for all coaches involved in the game, FCA also aims to enhance the reputation of Australian football and its coaches on the world stage.

As we speak, former Socceroo manager Ange Postecoglou stands within a handful of wins and just a few weeks of becoming Australia’s most successful coaching export. Should Yokohama F.Marinos manage to seal the deal over the final month of the J-League season, his achievement would be considerable and well deserved.

Postecoglou forms part of a group of Australian coaches who have dominated the top flight of domestic football since the inception of the A-League. Alongside Socceroo and Olyroo boss Graham Arnold, current Perth manager Tony Popovic and former Victory coach Kevin Muscat, Postecoglou completes an impressive quartet.

As a collective, the four men possess six A-League championships, countless grand final appearances and a staggering seven premierships. Their sustained success confirms the importance and value of a proven coach. In spite of playing personnel changes, injury concerns or absences due to international duty, their message always remained consistent, firm and effective.

Now, Western United’s Mark Rudan and Sydney FC’s Steve Corica loom as the new generation of Australian coaches, yet with only Popovic employed on the domestic scene, the stocks do look a little thin elsewhere.

It is potentially where Australian football is slightly off the mark when it comes to player development. Rather than mad capped international searches to find the right visa player or marquee man, A-League and NPL clubs would be better served investing more heavily in the person they ultimately choose to mentor their playing squad.

Acquiring the services of an elite international coach would do far more for young Australian players seeking to learn and develop their footballing nous.

Playing professionally alongside an experienced ex-La Liga or Bundesliga journeyman will no doubt count for something. However, young players like Riley McGree, Elvis Kamsoba and Al Hassan Toure will benefit far more from time spent under a truly world class manager than mingling with an ageing veteran merely visiting our shores.

Postecoglou, Arnold and Popovic have all had a taste of coaching abroad and our best minds will now always attract Asian Confederation interest. What remains on their departure will always be young and developing coaches, coaching young and developing players.

Redressing that cycle is vital and something within which the FCA can play a key role; both in improving standards and enunciating the importance of the coach at all levels of football.

Staff Writer
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$200 million announced for women’s sport: All the credit but not full reward

Matildas vs Sweden FWWC 2023

Following the record-breaking FIFA Women’s World Cup played in Australia, the Federal Government has announced $200 million to women’s sport under their newly unveiled Play Our Way scheme.

The new program will aim to improve women’s sport across the nation helping to bring about much needed female tailored infrastructure and improve access to women’s sport generally as participation demand sees huge increases in the wake of the global competition.

The scheme will be open to all women’s sports across the nation, something that has led to much criticism from football fans who see it as an appropriation of football’s achievement for the benefit of other already better funded codes. However, the government expects football to be the major beneficiary as demand following the cup to participate in women’s football has skyrocketed.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese thanked the Matildas and expressed the importance of their historic run for all women’s sport when explaining the funds cross sport nature.

“The Matildas have given us a moment of national inspiration; this is about seizing that opportunity for the next generation, investing in community sporting facilities for women and girls around Australia,” Albanese said in a statement.

“We want women and girls everywhere in Australia to have the facilities and the support to choose a sport they love.”

The Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson met this announcement with some criticism.

“The passion for the sport is there, the players are there. It’s giving them a fair chance … to make sure there’s investment in grassroots football so more can play and stay in the game for longer. Making sure there’s pathways for every single player. Make sure the facilities are there to play. It comes down to investment,” he told media.

Although the federal announcement is not an allotment reserved just for football this does not mean that all the recently announced funding is so broad. In fact, the NSW government has committed $10 million just for football “at all levels” to act as a “legacy” of their hosting of the Cup and South Australia has promised $28 million to female sport in general, with $10 million reserved just for football.

The announcement was also a chance for the Federal Government to announce their exploration of new anti-siphoning laws that will aim to make more major sporting events in the coming years available via free-to-air TV. The report into these laws comes as a response to the Matildas’ semi-final against England being the most watched show since TV ratings began.

These announcements are clearly a huge victory for women’s sport in Australia and for consumers. However, there are clearly questions that rightful should be raised regarding the targeting of this funding and if credit is being given where credit is due.

It is indisputable that the nature of football itself was a key factor in financial and viewer success of Cup so why isn’t it getting to have the majority share of funding for the industry it is creating? In fact, football has often suffered this kind of slight despite participation in it being twice as large as Australian Rules football, netball, or cricket.

Therefore, we do welcome and applaud the government’s commitment to improving gender equality in sport, however in defence of football we disagree with the Matildas washing happening for the benefit of the other codes as it should not be used to side-line the game that helped it happen.

This is not advocating that this should be another battle in the code wars between football and the traditional major codes. Instead, it’s advocating that there is indeed a time for investment for everyone but when one sport does so much for the sporting landscape – it’s a matter of respect for them that they get to enjoy an unshared moment in the funding limelight.

Hence, as per Sam Kerr’s words following the semi-final – “We need funding in our development. We need funding in our grassroots. We need funding everywhere.”

Why one state premier’s mindset must be replicated across the board

Peter Malinauskas Labor Government

On Tuesday, before the Matildas took part in the heartbreaking loss to England in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, we had already seen the enormous support across all sporting codes.

From record viewing numbers, to cross-code collaboration allowing Melbourne Cricket Ground patrons the chance to watch the Matildas before a Carlton and Melbourne AFL match, this is the momentum that will help shape the future of football in Australia.

Until now, football has been well behind in available funding, despite being an extremely high participated sport in Australia.

One state that has already taken swift action to build on a tournament that has seen the first men’s or women’s Australian side to reach the World Cup semi-finals is the Peter Malinauskas Labor Government in South Australia.

In a sign of what needs to eventuate for the game to grow in Australia, they have committed $28 million to dedicated female sporting facilities.

The Government is set to deliver $18 million for grant programs over the next three years that will improve female sporting facilities and participation.

In addition, $10 million of the money will be quarantined for soccer, as Football South Australia will chip in to match the grants dollar for dollar through funding sources that involve clubs, Football Australia, Local and Federal Government.

From South Australia alone, girl’s and women’s participation is predicted to increase by 33 per cent over the next three years, which is influenced by how well the Matildas performed.

Funding and investment will be of even more importance going forward, as clubs will be inundated with requests to start playing – as evidenced by Adelaide Comets who shared how their inbox started picking up rapid enquiries.

Following the conclusion of the tournament, this is the precise reminder of why investment is key, to compete with nations such as England who have their well-renowned training facility at St. George’s Park.

Ultimately, Football Australia will have their part to play as all states in Australia seek to capitalise on this golden opportunity.

Football Australia CEO James Johnson has now seen the men’s and women’s national teams do exceptionally well – now is the time to act.

“We warmly welcome the South Australian’s funding commitment – an important investment that underlines the need for collaboration between government and sport in order to address football’s urgent grassroots facility needs,” he said via media release.

“Following the feats of the Subway Socceroos at the FIFA Men’s World Cup, Football Australia has enjoyed a 10% rise in national participation.

“With the historic performances of the CommBank Matildas at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, we anticipate up to an additional 20% leap.

“However, as we grow, so does the pressing need to bridge our facilities gap – a challenge highlighted by our trajectory, which, if not addressed, will compromise the health of our community, and limit positive life experiences for women and girls.

“Our commitment to gender parity and inclusivity remains unwavering. Yet, we cannot overlook the infrastructure challenges our community clubs grapple with daily.

“This is why the South Australian Government’s funding commitment is pivotal. Together with our government partners, and armed with compelling national facility audit insights, we can make smarter, more impactful investments in community football, ensuring a brighter, more inclusive community for every aspiring footballer.”

We are now in a defining chapter of Australian football. If all state and federal governments and councils can get on the same page, we will be in a far better position than we have seen previously.

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