Back our youth teams or Socceroos are doomed, claims Moore

Green and gold great Craig Moore has implored FFA to make up for the “wasted years” and give Australia’s national youth teams the financial backing they need to protect the future of the Socceroos.

Craig Moore

Craig Moore looks on during 2014 Source: Getty Images

The 52-cap defender, now 43, worked within the corridors of power at the ruling body for three years and observed at close quarters a culture of neglect which culminated in the the closure in 2017 of the AIS Centre of Excellence.

A program which produced a conga line of Socceroos including Mark Viduka, Mark Bresciano, Brett Emerton, Vince Grella, John Aloisi and Moore himself.

With Australia qualifying for just five of the last 14 tournaments at youth level and Asia awash with investment and improvement, Australia is in danger of being left in the slipstream.

The appointment last week of new FFA technical director Rob Sherman, has further concentrated minds, with a large part of his remit reinvigorating Australia’s moribund and under-funded youth structures.

He’s pledged to conduct a review and ensure world best practice for “elite youth development including resourcing and the requirements for elite national teams”.

Action can’t come quickly enough for Moore, who also worked in clubland as Brisbane Roar’s technical director for three years before quitting 14 months ago.

“We’ve got to be smarter, we’ve got to get back up to speed and we got to do it quickly,” he said.

“If we don’t we will experience the (ongoing) non-qualification of our junior national teams for tournaments and that lack of success will flow into senior level.

“If young players aren’t getting the exposure and experience to develop to their full potential then you won’t ultimately have the quality or ability at your disposal to go and do what you need to do at the top end.

“We’ve lost a lot of time. What we have to do is to find what works for us here, and do it quickly.”

Socceroos coach Graham Arnold, who also holds the reins for the Olyroos, has led calls for enhanced funding for the junior national teams, with FFA director Joseph Carrozzi saying last week that his message had not gone unheeded.

“It’s an investment and national team programs cost money ... you can’t cut corners with that,” added Moore.

“If you do you that then you end up in a situation where we find ourselves now. You need to make sure there are programs in place to give all players a chance to succeed.

“At the moment if you ask senior figures in the FFA whether they have given the players and coaches the best chance possible to flourish and be successful the answer is no.

“I’m sure the FFA would put their hand up and say ‘we could’ve done things better’.”

Moore also highlighted the role the clubs can play - other than becoming embroiled in disputes over the release of players for international duty - in their continued development.

“With an independent A-League coming we have to be careful we don’t get the powerbrokers at the club level thinking they all of a sudden know everything, because they don’t either,” he said.

“Things need to be clear across all the junior programs. What is the schedule? What is the program? The duty of the FFA is to make those junior programs as effective as they can possibly can be.

“We need to be able to back these national teams and qualify for major tournaments.

“That’s the only way we’re going to provide a platform for a players to go on and build careers.”

Moore, who held mentoring, talent identification and ambassadorial roles at FFA, bemoans the closure of the AIS, widely viewed as an expedient cost-cutting measure.

“There have been periods of time where we’ve had programs like the centre of excellence which were unbelievably successful and translated to our national teams,” he pointed out.

“There’s enough data and information out there to show us what was working and why it was working.

“Everybody agrees things are not as they need to be at the moment and there needs to be some brainstorming to get to a level that is required.

“In terms of talent identification a lot rests on the clubs now.

“It’s their job to work in their own backyards and find the the best players. That’s not the FFA’s job now.

“We’re talking about having potentially lost 10 years, or more. That’s a lot of wasted years.

“I’d hoped that being involved at FFA, and also in clubland, I could have made a change and difference but that wasn’t the case. For me, you need so many more like-minded people (to achieve that).”


Share
Watch the FIFA World Cup 2026™, Tour de France, Tour de France Femmes, Giro d’Italia, Vuelta a España, Dakar Rally, World Athletics / ISU Championships (and more) via SBS On Demand – your free live streaming and catch-up service. Read more about Sport
Have a story or comment? Contact Us

Watch the FIFA World Cup 2026™, Tour de France, Tour de France Femmes, Giro d’Italia, Vuelta a España, Dakar Rally, World Athletics / ISU Championships (and more) via SBS On Demand – your free live streaming and catch-up service.
Watch nowOn Demand
Follow SBS Sport
5 min read
Published 9 April 2019 8:46am
By Dave Lewis

Share this with family and friends