“So how do we move forward? It requires a mature and honest look inward. Instead of focusing outward and placing blame, we need to examine what has prevented football from fulfilling its potential in this country.

“We have the largest participation base of any sport, yet for some reason, it doesn’t fully connect. The connection only seems to happen when it’s the Socceroos or Matildas. While that’s great for Football Australia, it’s not a healthy or sustainable ecosystem for the broader football community. That’s a puzzle we need to solve.”

On the field

Below the senior national teams, the juniors continued to struggle on the world stage in 2024. Australia’s under-20 women did not score a goal at the U20 World Cup, losing all three group games, while the under-17 women also suffered three defeats at the U17 Asian Cup.

While the Socceroos and Matildas have both won an Asian title since Australia’s move from Oceania to the AFC in 2006, no age-restricted national team of either gender has done the same, and all junior sides tend to run into the same sets of problems as the seniors: an underlying lack of creativity in the final third when trying to turn possession into meaningful attacks, especially against defensively minded opponents.

FA’s technical challenges are being tackled by the federation’s Football Development Committee (FDC), which includes current directors Heather Garriock and Sam Ciccarello, former Matilda Dianne Alagich, fitness and conditioning guru Anthony Crea and Socceroos legend Mark Schwarzer. They are “asking the right questions”, Isaac says, and throwing up inventive solutions to the challenges Australia faces, particularly around development of young players and teams.

This year, FA launched new junior academy programs in Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria, co-piloted by the member federations in those states – a move that has triggered backlash from clubs at NPL and A-League level, which are unhappy about having to compete directly against them in local competitions.

It is not the only out-of-the box idea being considered by the FDC.

A revamp of the National Youth Championships – a key talent ID event held annually for under-15 and -16 boys and girls – is also on the cards. Isaac said the tournaments would be rebadged as “Emerging Socceroos” or “Emerging Matildas Championships” and that the FDC was exploring radical rule changes to promote a certain style or intent on the pitch and “changing behaviours”, as he put it.

“For example, we might award a bonus point to the team that wins the most 50-50 duels in the middle third, executes the most shots on goal, or plays out from the back to create a scoring opportunity,” he said.

“These metrics intend to focus on behaviours that influence results. By rewarding them, we’re encouraging coaches and players in the NPL youth system to prioritise those aspects too. It’s about shifting focus and improving football IQ at all levels. There’s a saying: where attention goes, energy flows. That’s what we’re aiming for.”

‘One thing I’ve always personally disliked about Australian football is the tendency to point fingers – at the government for not giving enough funding, at sponsors, at free-to-air broadcasters, or the media for not supporting us.’

Football Australia chairman Anter Isaac

Teams from overseas, particularly within Asia, would also be asked to play in the tournaments as invitational teams, Isaac said, ensuring that exposure to higher-level opposition is spread further within the game, rather than teams that tour abroad and would only benefit from those experiences themselves.

“The football development committee is proactive, not reactive, and that’s exactly what we need,” Isaac said. “They’re not focused on sentiment or concerned about feelings, they’re focused on understanding what has gone wrong and identifying what adjustments are necessary to move forward.”

The A-Leagues

It has been four years since the A-Leagues secured legal and operational independence from Football Australia. The men’s and women’s professional competitions are now run by the Australian Professional Leagues, which has undergone significant financial turmoil, despite a $140 million investment from Silver Lake, which has now been spent.

In January, half of the APL’s workforce was made redundant and the digital venture KeepUp, central to the organisation’s planned growth strategy, was closed down. With cash reserves drained, annual distributions to clubs were reduced by almost $1.5 million to just $530,000, putting further strain on club owners to meet the shortfall. There has been continued growth in broadcast and attendance metrics in recent seasons but, overall, the A-Leagues are well down in those departments compared to their peak years about a decade ago.

FA has faced criticism for not doing more to help the APL through their struggles, having largely left the clubs to their own devices, and only more recently has the relationship between the two bodies become closer.

Asked if he thought football was any better off after four years of A-Leagues independence, Isaac said: “I’d be lying if I said yes convincingly.”

“But it’s still early days, and there have been valuable lessons learned over the past four years,” he said. “What gives me hope is … the A-Leagues have made some significant decisions in the last 12 months. I believe we’ll start seeing positive outcomes from those changes over the next year and beyond. In fact, I know they’ve turned a corner.

“The APL separation was an important step, and like any major transition, it brought challenges. Over time, we’ve seen progress, particularly in the APL’s ability to focus on the professional leagues, while FA concentrates on national teams and grassroots development. Since then, there’s been real progress. I talk to [APL chairman] Steve Conroy almost every second day, and our working relationship is excellent. While the clubs face challenges, particularly in continuing to invest and grow, they are also presented with opportunities. This year could be a turning point. There are clear signs of progress.”

The state federations

Isaac has a long history in football administration. He began as an intern with the Australian Soccer Federation in the mid-1990s and remained with the governing body through the Frank Lowy-led revolution that followed, holding various roles. In 2013, he became a board member of Football NSW, and then served as chair for a five-year stint that ended in 2021 before his return to the national level with the FA. His board is noticeably taking a more active, hands-on role in the way FA operates and runs the game.

Isaac is a strident defender of the role of the state federations, which Schwarzer once described as the “biggest issue” in the Australian game, criticising them for not being aligned with national strategies and for only looking out for their own interests. FA previously explored a reform strategy called “One Football”, in which duplication of services with the state bodies would be reduced – but that appears to have been dropped.

“When people ask, ‘What would football look like without these federations?’ the answer is simple, there would be no grassroots community football,” he said.

“Football Australia doesn’t have the capacity, capability, or capital to deliver what these federations provide. When someone wants to play football, they don’t call Football Australia, they reach out to a local club or a parent in their community. These federations are deeply embedded in their communities, and they’ve been the most dependable part of Australian football for years. They don’t often get the recognition they deserve, but they just keep going, and that’s truly inspiring.

“While the idea of a unified, centralised model may sound appealing … it’s often a consultant’s idea to save money, but our problem isn’t about saving money, it’s about making money. We’ve been stuck in this corporate mindset of cost-cutting for too long. You can only cut so much before you can’t deliver anything meaningful. When you stop investing, the consequences follow, youth teams fail to qualify for World Cups, match day experiences suffer and the game starts to decline. It’s a vicious cycle.

“Instead, we need boldness, confidence, and a focus on generating value. Our focus at Football Australia should be on empowering the entire ecosystem so that every level of the game can both contribute and thrive.”

The cost of playing football

High player registration fees are often described as one of the main impediments to progress, and a barrier to entry for talented young players from working-class families. In NSW, clubs in the NPL are able to charge more than $2500 a year.

Isaac believes the perception that it costs too much to play football in Australia is false.

“In most cases, it’s not as high as it’s made out to be,” he said.

“Across Australia, we have more than 3000 clubs. Of those, approximately 200 are part of the NPL, and they do charge higher fees at the youth level, given the expectations of them. However, the remaining 2800 clubs charge fees that are comparable to other sports while providing much more in return. These clubs offer longer seasons, more games, more touchpoints for players, and qualified coaching, all of which add significant value for families.”

The reason that NPL fees are so high, Isaac said, has its roots in a decision made when the A-League was first established, and the governing body placed a cap of $3000 on any player transfers from state league level to A-League clubs. That cap, removed two years ago by FA, was intended to financially protect A-League clubs but had “unintended consequences” because NPL clubs weren’t reimbursed like they are elsewhere in the world when their players become professional, Isaac said.

“The introduction of the transfer cap disrupted a system where clubs were able to reinvest in development through compensation ... the impact on NPL clubs, and those beneath, led to increased financial pressures,” he said.

“Addressing these challenges remains an important focus for us. Reducing the cost of football retrospectively is challenging due to structural and financial factors. However, by enhancing the value participants receive, through longer seasons, better coaching, and improved facilities, we can ensure that what football delivers outweighs the costs of participation.

“If we focus on continually improving the experience, we can shift the conversation from cost to value, which is where it belongs.“

Hosting major tournaments

Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia was awarded hosting rights to the 2034 FIFA World Cup. They were unopposed, with FA choosing not to proceed with a tandem bid with New Zealand and some ASEAN countries when it became clear the Saudis were going to win. In exchange, Saudi Arabia dropped their bid for the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup, which will be held in Australia.

But Isaac said FA was no less interested in bidding to host other FIFA tournaments because of the experience – and they may well go again for the 2038 World Cup, even though they are technically ineligible because of FIFA’s rotation policy, which dictates that only nations from CONCACAF and Oceania will be able to host it in that year. That policy, however, has proved very rubbery, with FIFA’s decision to celebrate the World Cup’s centenary by staging three games of the 2030 tournament in South America meaning that CONMEBOL nations were out of the running for 2034, neatly paving the way for the Saudis.

Isaac acknowledged that a case could be made to FIFA that, since the two most recent World Cups held in Asia would have been staged by neighbouring countries in the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific region deserved the right to bid for 2038.

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“We’re actively exploring every opportunity, whether it’s Asian tournaments like the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup or even hosting the men’s Asian Cup again, nine years after 2015,” he said.

“Who knows? Perhaps in the 2030s, we’ll be in a position to do that again. FIFA tournaments are definitely on the radar as well. Why wouldn’t they be?

“Expressing interest is one thing, but delivering a 48-team competition is a substantial undertaking that requires careful planning and coordination. A joint bid with southern Asia or Oceania offers exciting possibilities.

“We also have to consider the timing, six years after the Brisbane Olympics, and assess the sentiment around hosting another large-scale event. These are significant national investments, and there’s always a risk of fatigue, particularly within government, when it comes to backing such major undertakings. Balancing these factors is critical, and these decisions involve many moving parts, and we’re committed to exploring them thoroughly.”

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