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Mind the gap: The class gulf between state league and A-League

20th August, 2014
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Sasa Ogneovski - from park football to Socceroo. (Photo: Paul Barkley/LookPro)
Expert
20th August, 2014
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Somewhere out in the open plains of Australia’s footballing landscape, there’s a wide gaping chasm. It separates most from a privileged few, and swallows almost all who dare to attempt to cross it.

If there’s one thing the FFA Cup euphoria has made apparent, it’s the well-defined dichotomy between semi-professional and professional football in this country.

In recent weeks, we’ve been treated to a delightful smorgasbord of quaint suburban spectacles.

For one night, students, bakers and humble bricklayers have been able to shed their part-time player tags and dream of something more.

In a financial sense, it’s a world apart from the macchiato-sipping marquees and homegrown Socceroo heroes of the A-League.

But in terms of ability and potential, how big, really, is this chasm, this gap? The latest evidence, while somewhat polarising, suggests that it’s still considerable.

On Tuesday night, Perth’s Sterling Lions were easily accounted for, albeit by a Brisbane Roar side who have grown accustomed to dismantling A-League opposition in a similar fashion.

On Wednesday, South Coast Wolves were eliminated by a single goal at the hands of the Mariners, while Bayswater City tumbled out following a 2-0 defeat to the Victory.

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However last week we saw Adelaide City humble a Wanderers line-up that, while certainly understrength, wouldn’t have completely confounded pundits had it been fielded in an A-League fixture.

Granted, perhaps the FFA Cup isn’t the greatest barometer for such an assessment, considering it’s essentially (at this stage at least) a pre-season competition for the A-League clubs. Yet it does provide some interesting ammunition for debating the quality of Australian football from a holistic perspective.

Since the A-League’s inception, we’ve seen several cases of players rising out from the confines of the state leagues and flourishing in the top flight and beyond.

2010 Asian Footballer of the Year Sasa Ognenovski is a pertinent example; the ‘Og Monster’ toiled in the Victorian Premier League until Miron Bleiberg gave him his chance at Brisbane.

And let’s not forget current Socceroos skipper Mile Jedinak, who won the 2006 NSW Premier League title with Sydney United 58 before the Mariners threw him a bone.

Naturally, for every Ognenvoski or Jedinak, there’s a litany of not-quites. Jedinak’s ex-teammate and Sydney United 58 all-time leading goal scorer Luka Glavas is one such. The soon-to-be retired striker has long been considered one of the top marksmen in NSW circles. But when given his shot with stints at Perth Glory and Sydney FC, a string of less-than-impressive performances saw him begrudgingly forced to return across the chasm to Edensor Park.

Still, Glavas is one of the lucky ones. As it stands, Australia as a footballing nation is the promised land of limited opportunity; a bottlenecked field where the phrase ‘catching a break’ carries more weight than it should.

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And it’s largely a numbers issue: there’s a serious imbalance when you consider that we have only 10 teams in the A-League, but 92 teams in the National Premier Leagues – which represent the top tiers in each state-based federation.

It’s why so many of our European-passport-carrying prospects flee overseas, and why even more slip between the cracks at home, their progress stunted, their potential never fully unraveled.

Look at Massimo Luongo: at the age of 18, he was plodding away with APIA Leichhardt. Overlooked by the A-League, Luongo went abroad in search of appreciation and found it – at Tottenham, no less.

Three years later, the 21-year-old is now the fulcrum of Swindon Town’s midfield (even being handed the armband on one occasion). Oh, and he went to Brazil for the World Cup. That’s pretty cool too I guess.

Players are products of their environments. Yes, quality-infused perseverance will often surpass all barriers in the end, but it takes the right milieu, the right people, and the right opportunity, to unlock potential in the right way.

With expansion firmly on the horizon, our state leagues will invariably play a part in helping the game grow and it’s important that they’re given proper attention and forethought.

When the FFA recently reformed the national football pyramid, David Gallop mentioned that bridging professionalism gaps was high on the agenda.

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The FFA Cup has already done a great deal in bridging said gaps. It represents the sort of all-encompassing, bottom-to-top approach that champions consolidation, and encourages things to develop organically.

Regardless of what disparities we think might exist within our structures, it’s an exciting time to be a football fan in Australia.
There’s a sense of forever being on the precipice of change and an anticipation for the future that’s unmatched by any other code.

Bring on the next 10 years.

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