Increasingly, young Australian footballers are choosing to ply their trades overseas with Asian clubs. But what sort of lifestyle does it bring, and what does this mean for their careers and our own local leagues?

Solo FC. Kitchee Sports Club. Churchill Brothers FC.

Not exactly the most recognisable names on the Australian football landscape, are they? But for an increasing number of young Australian footballers, these clubs and other South East Asian teams are desirable destinations for continuing their football career. Nowhere is this more obvious than in Western Australia, where of late the All Flags State Premier League has been raided for its best players, names like David Micevski, Steve Hesketh, and Aleks Vrteski no longer a feature of the local competition's teamsheets. Even worse, clubs in Indonesia and beyond are also picking up former A-League players like Andrew Barisic, Steve Pantelidis, and Eugene Dadi before they have a chance to filter back into the local leagues, denying clubs and local fans alike the chance to see an increased level of competition at a state level.

Indeed, local football bosses around Australia will soon face off-season headaches as their players consider not only their local options but those abroad as well. Take players like WA state league Golden Boot winner Gustavo Maralunda, who starred in the latter half of the season with 14 goals in 11 games but has seemingly overlooked by Perth Glory for their upcoming campaign. For his team's manager, offers in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and India might prove significant hurdles to retaining his star player.

But for the players themselves, it's not a bad move at all. Speaking to The West Australian earlier this year, Solo FC keeper Vrteski praised the passion of the competition's supporters and the lifestyle that Indonesia offered he and other Perth-based players.

"I think the league will keep getting better because of the direction the people involved in the game want to take it and the massive amount of interest in the game… It's a cheap lifestyle, it's close to home and the wages are good. I've had a good season there and I've been offered a new two-year contract. I can see myself playing there for quite a while."


Seeking a second opinion, I contacted fellow ex-Glory player Andrija Jukic for his own opinion, after completing a season with Bogor Raya FC, another team in the Indonesian Premier League (no longer a breakaway league, it is now about be reformed as a fully-fledged competition in line with the national FA's system). I asked the attacking midfielder what benefits Indonesia offered young Australian players like he and Aleks over some of the local competitions:

"Well, you get most things done for you, so you spend a lot less over there than you would in Perth. We have a cook that cooks for the whole team, for every meal, and the team bus that takes you to and from training. Most things there are very cheap too, so if you do go out to eat or something its not that expensive, meaning that most of your wages you can save."

It's not just on the park where Australians are contributing to Asian leagues, either. Aussie coaches like Ron Smith and David Mitchell contributed to Asia long before the A-League, and these days people like Lawrie McKinna are picking up jobs in the Chinese Super League, too. Then there's the political and football development side of things, where we have experienced Australian player Robbie Gaspar representing a players' union in Indonesia, and I was surprised to learn PFA chief executive Brendan Schwab had also been involved in the development of the new Indonesian league structure, promoting it as a great way for Austalian players to develop and experience another country. With all these Aussies helping out in Asia, it almost sounds like many of the things I talked about in a previous Purple Nowhere blog are coming to fruition.

But while a relaxed lifestyle on the cheap in some tropical islands certainly sounds like a winner, I couldn't help but wonder if the standard of football was really worth it? Jukic admitted it was certainly different to the A-League, noting:

"The facilities and grounds are not the best, some are very poor compared to the grounds of Hindmarsh and NIB stadium, which doesn't make the play very good at times. But the players themselves are pretty skillful and quick. It's a very competitive league and pretty physical as well, so you've got to look after yourself and be careful because some of the tackles are a bit clumsy and the players seem get away with a fair bit more [than at home]."

In his interview with The West, Vrteski concurred, noting though that the amalgamation of the breakaway Premier League into the Indonesian League system would increase playing standards and professionalism across the league and provide better quality football for a country of over 200 million football fans. Vrteski himself knows all about that passion - he was selected for an all-star game that pitted the best foreigners against the best local players, attracting over 15,000 people through the gate and millions more on television. "Even walking out to warm up you get that buzz" he said, and it should be noted that the young keeper would never played in front of an audience like that in Perth.

But speaking of the WA capital, where does this leave the Glory? With the Indonesian leagues at least offering up to $150,000 a year to Australian players, many fringe A-League squad members and emerging state league prospects may be tempted to leave our shores altogether to double or even triple their salary. Vrteski had already told The West and The Football Sack about his frustrations with not receiving regular football in Perth, stating that he just wasn't getting any game time at Glory and "It's hard for a player when the team is losing just about every week and you still don't get a chance". For Jukic it was a similar story:

"Well, I would have loved to have stayed with the Glory but as you would have seen I wasn't given much of a chance during the season, even with the bad results we were having. Plus the whole team was told that no-one was certain of a contract for the next year, and if we had offers elsewhere it would be best to take them. So with that and the lack of game time I thought they didn't want me anymore, so when this chance [came up], I thought I'd give it a go.

Going from the last season you can see that its pretty hard to get from the local league to the A-League let alone going from the youth league to the A-League, or state league to youth league; well that's in Perth anyway, I cant say much about the rest of the country. Now it seems like it's also tough to make it into the youth league unless you are involved with the NTC program, though that's not to say anything bad about the NTC because the coaching you get from both Kenny Lowe and Gareth Naven would definitely help any player to improve."

So going by what both players say - and the exit of many of the Glory's young players from the past few years - it would be fair to draw the conclusion that in the A-League Perth Glory hasn't always given its youngsters a chance to succeed at a higher level. Certainly there is a feeling amongst Glory supporters that players like Jukic, Hesketh and youth team MGP Dean Evans would have made an impact on the A-League stage, if they'd only been given a proper chance under David Mitchell and Ian Ferguson in the past few years. Sadly, these players now appear lost to the team and will instead concentrate on proving their doubters wrong by performing well overseas whilst making more money than they could ever have earned at an A-League side in WA.

That being said, Perth have come out this year and stated that they do want to bring a more youth-orientated focus to the team - and whilst some would thus question the subsequent very 'old Perth'-like signing of quite a few players over the age of thirty, it is true that players like Jesse Makarounas (17), Adam Taggart (18), Tommy Amphlett (22), and Josh Risdon (19) are on the Glory books. But it is still a very mature Perth team, and fans would point out that simply being on the books does not guarantee that the coach will use you - as players like Jukic, Vrteski, Hesketh, and Evans have all found out. So it will be with great interest that we watch Perth this year to see if the promises of a youthful outlook do indeed ring true.

But if they don't, at least the players concerned know that there are now pathways beyond the WA, NSW and Victorian Premier Leagues available to them - and that they can continue on with football as a viable career option. The final word belongs to Vrteski, who told The West that while his time at Perth may have been a bit of a downer, the only way for him now was up:

"I didn't play enough games to get into a rhythm and it was disappointing. But I don't have a grudge against anyone at Glory. I've moved on, I'm playing every week, and there's no better feeling."