In a wide-ranging interview with Soccerscene , where Cole also talked about James Johnson and the NSL, the Football Coaches Association executive committee member spoke about the former AIS-hosted FFA Centre of Excellence.

“(The AIS) was integral to the development of players at that point in time," Cole said.

“Those guys all had wonderful talent but what Ron Smith did was turn the AIS into perhaps the best professional finishing school for athletes that we have ever seen.

“It was a wonderful opportunity for both players and coaches to develop and I was very sorry to see it go.

“Most countries around the world now have some sort of national coaching setup and some of those have a system like Clairefontaine in France, which is still there.

“But we are so different.”

Cole said Australia's size and the past decade's focus on strengthening the academy set-ups in A-League clubs has made it difficult to consider restoring an AIS program.

“Here, we are so vast in distance and travel. I think it would be very difficult, because the model has been…to help A-League clubs develop academies and then…help NPL clubs develop academies.

“There are challenges around the depth and quality of the coaching talent, as well as getting kids in there. It’s not simple to answer.”