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Fox Sports A-League commentator Simon Hill spoke exclusively with Roar Guru Adrian Houghton about the amazing transformation football has undergone in Australia over the past decade.
Australian football has enjoyed the greatest decade of its history.
Once known as the relative minnow, and somewhat unknown of the nation’s sporting landscape, the introduction of a fluid and commercial football competition has finally given avid ‘soccer’ fans a proper league.
For Fox Sports commentator and football analyst, Simon Hill, he’s been able to watch the code grow from its humble beginnings.
Hill, originally born and raised in football-laden Manchester, began working in Australia in 2003 – the final year of the tumultuous National Soccer League – and has been amazed at the rapid transformation of the game.
Having overseen the growth and given the A-League brand significant endorsement since its inception in 2004, Hill believes it’s one of the greatest experiences of his career.
“I think it’s been the most satisfying and rewarding experience in my career,” he said.
“To see it grow from where it was when I arrived in 2003, right at the tail end of the old NSL when nobody took notice of football at all is fantastic.”
The 45-year-old still vividly recounts the dire situation of Australia’s ailing code, and has been staggered by the strong advancements.
“You couldn’t find it in the newspapers and if people were interested in football it was the English Premier League and the only Socceroos they knew were Kewell and Viduka,” he said.
“To go from that NSL competition to where we are now in the space of 10 years is an incredible effort.”
The Manchester City supporter is also adamant that it’s only just the beginning of football’s rise as a premier sport in Australia.
“I feel like we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface,” Hill said.
“It’s still not an intrinsic part of our culture and I think it will take another generation before we power on and become like the J-League and the K-League.”
However, if football ever wants to engrain itself in the country’s culture then Hill believes Football Federation Australia must overcome some pressing issues that threaten the sport’s progression.
“The crucial factor for me is having a system of promotion and relegation, but I can’t see that happening in 10 years,” he said.
“It’s a unique problem in Australia, whereby you don’t have such a system because it’s not what the other codes do – it’s not part of the DNA.”
“Another factor is the geography of Australia and the relatively small population about where to put the clubs and whether you bring back some of the old (NSL) clubs”.
“I think once we get to that stage, when we’ve got two viable divisions and a true pyramid of football then I think we can say we’ve truly arrived”.
For now, the ambitious advocate of Australian football is delighted to see the large strides made in the A-League, especially with the competition working as a platform of success for young Socceroos hopefuls.
“The A-League is the natural home for young talent,” Hill said. “We have those pathways for talented youngsters in most, if not all of the big cities in Australia.”
“I don’t think it’s like the old days when players like Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell went overseas before even going into an A-League setup, bar the odd one or two, but that doesn’t happen as often.”
Criticism levelled at the quality of football in the league by various journalists and rival codes is a claim that Hill rubbishes completely.
“This is a hard league,” he said.
“When you look at some of the Socceroos that have come back with big reputations and they’ve not cut it in the A-League, and it shows this is a competition you can’t come into half-fit or with a sluggish attitude – this is a proper football competition.”
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