Carl Valeri is urging Canberra's A-League insiders to pull the trigger on building a men's academy program to set the club up for long-term success, while calling on local clubs to shelve future promotion aspirations and funnel their best talent to the new venture.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Canberra is poised to have an A-League team in the men's competition for the start of the 2024-25 season - but the former Socceroo warns the work starts now.
Valeri, the Canberra product who rose to the top level and had stints in Italy and with the Melbourne Victory, hopes local clubs all buy in to allow the new club to capitalise on high participation rates in Canberra.
Bringing together the region's top talent as soon as possible will be vital as Michael Caggiano seeks investors to fund a $25 million licence within three months.
Because Valeri says buying almost an entirely new squad from elsewhere will not be a sustainable model for a new franchise.
MORE SPORT
"You are going to have to start implementing things over the next couple of months if you want to do things properly," Valeri said.
"Those players who are going to be playing for Canberra, they are going to start training over the next couple of months. It's a building process.
"You're going to have to start thinking about academies, you're going to have to start thinking about how we can get our young players in that pathway.
"It's not just for men, but more importantly for women over the next couple of years because that sport is just growing in a massive way.
"You need to start thinking about how we can create a pathway. You can buy players and get them in, but is that a sustainable model? It's a tough ask."
Canberra Croatia and Gungahlin United have aspirations to feature in Football Australia's proposed national second division, which could eventually operate under a promotion and relegation model with the A-League.
Valeri says creating a professional pathway through Canberra is crucial, and hopes clubs will push their most promising talent towards the A-League club even if they harbour their own top flight ambitions.
"As long as you've got the backing of the community clubs, I think it could be something really special," Valeri said.
"A team in the A-League in Canberra is going to need all of that support, and those players, community clubs are going to have to be willing to funnel them to the top.
"As you start looking at an expansion into a relegation league, that's going to be a challenge. Some clubs who are competing to get promoted into the A-League, if that's the path it's going to go down, are they going to relinquish their better players to go to the A-League club?
"There are going to be those challenges. There has to be a clear direction, a clear funnel, a clear pathway for those players to go through."
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.
Caden Helmers
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
