THE BLING were in town. I always look forward to the Reds playing Sydney FC.

I have very little interest in poker machines but if they were my addiction of choice, I’d liken defeating Sydney to winning say $50 on the pokies. In comparison a victory against Wellington would only equate to a $20 payout. Some games just have more significance.

I arrived about five minutes prior to kick-off and easily found a seat. Bright sunshine bathed the familiar Hindmarsh Stadium. It was going to be a difficult game, Sydney were top of the league.

Before anyone accuses me of living in some sort of A-League season one time-warp, I need to clarify something. The game I was about to witness was not what you might think. It was 10.30am on a Saturday morning and I was about to watch my first youth league match.

Despite the 30C heat it was a very entertaining contest. It was free-flowing, the skills were good on both sides and in the end it finished in a 3-3 draw.

Valkanis, Costanzo and Agostino were all playing for the Reds and Colosimo had suited up for Sydney.

The great shame about the event was that it was witnessed by such a small crowd. I sensed that most of the people watching were family members of those playing. I claimed to be ‘Brenton Valkanis’ when entering the stadium.

It’s time that measures were put in place to ensure that the A-League’s ‘younger brother’ is better embraced. The success of the youth league is vitally important to the future of the game in Australia.

Why don’t we, for instance ..
• Make sure that ALL youth league games are played before the corresponding A-League fixtures (not just some)

• Start the youth league matches as late as possible so that a decent crowd gets to witness their finale (at present when both matches are played on the same day/venue, they start and finish them so early that most fans are still at home trying to work out what they did with their scarf)

• Protect youth league players from being poached by other A-League clubs for a certain time period

• (And for a controversial finish...) Give A-League clubs a bonus point (or two) if their youth league team makes the top 4

The youth league is important. It’s also entertaining, as I witnessed last weekend.

If you know and like the older brother then may I suggest you introduce yourself to the younger sibling also. He’s pretty cool actually.