Football is Australia’s most-played team sport, with 1.7 million participants across all genders and ages.
However, replicating this at a national level is something the country is struggling with.
The Matildas exited the Paris Olympics much earlier than expected, and the Socceroos have had a shocking start to their World Cup qualifiers, which continue tonight against China in Adelaide.
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In the last few months both national teams have found new coaches and with structural issues in the A-Leagues creating what some have branded “a talent drain,” is there any chance of it getting better?
In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou is joined by sports journalist and cohost of LiSTNR’s Willowtalk and Footy Talk League Adam Peacock to unpack it all.
Peacock said a problem in Australian football is that Football Australia, which the Matildas and Socceroos fall under, parted ways with the A-Leagues at the end of 2021.
This means the country’s national sporting body doesn’t have a say in how the local national league is operated.
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“There needs to be a closer relationship between these two entities because what Football Australia gets in the end is a Socceroos Matildas team, which all come out of the A-League men’s and women’s,” he said.
“That’s their starting point. You look at the last World Cup in Qatar for the men’s; the vast majority of those players had their start in the A-League Men’s.”
Peacock also pointed out that the standard A-Leagues season runs for 26 rounds, which seems a lot compared to other “football” codes in Australia.
However, in national leagues overseas, seasons last anywhere between 33 and 38 games, which Peacock said “should be the benchmark.”
“So, it is still providing players for the national team to operate on the world stage. What I’m saying is it could be better.
“What’s holding them back? More games means more overbearing costs for travel, especially in a country like Australia… it’s difficult,” he said.