Drew’s employers this week announced that they were set to become the third side in the A-League – after Brisbane Roar and Western Sydney Wanderers – to abolish fees for players in their academy, removing one of the largest impediments between talented youngsters and a place within the academy setups of A-League clubs.

Having made his initial forays into youth development in Britain – working with clubs such as Derby County, Everton, Aldershot Town and Southampton – the concept of paying for a place in an elite academy structure was a completely alien one to Sherman when he arrived Down Under.

One of the youngest ever recipients of a UEFA Pro-Licence, 32-year-old Sherman has also served as the Head Coach of the Cook Islands during his burgeoning career; guiding the Pacific nation to its first-ever wins in World Cup qualifying and its highest ever FIFA World Ranking.

Having been a part of the Roar academy when the Queensland club abolished fees for their youngsters, Sherman has now been involved in two of the three academy setups that have done away with the practice and said that the decision represented an important step forward for Melbourne Victory.

“I think we’ve made an investment as a club,” Sherman told FTBL. “Strategically, the academy is really important to us.

“With what is, I suppose, a landmark moment in terms of all of the academy teams being brought in, then, of course, it was a priority for us to make sure that when we talk about investing in developing players that we truly are investing in them – not charging them for that.

“It’s something that we felt was really important for us and ultimately we believe that we should be doing as part of our responsibility as a professional club.

“My history, my background is all in the UK, where all academies are completely fee-free; clubs do invest in developing the players.

“So, it was something I didn’t really understand, if I’m totally honest, coming to Australia and hearing that we ask kids to pay thousands of dollars. We say that these are elite players, it didn’t make sense to me.

“It was a priority to come up with a model that allowed us to do that in Brisbane and then a different model that allows us to do it at Victory as well – particularly given we see ourselves at Melbourne Victory as being the leader in the Australian game.

“It’s important for us to make sure we are leaders in the academy space as well.”

A member of the FFA’s review of current player pathways, Sherman – who is the son of Australian Technical Director Rob Sherman – has a number of challenges ahead in not just navigating a way forward for Victory’s academy but also playing a part in Australia’s future.

“You have to make a philosophical decision that may not make business sense now,” he said. “I think we in that sort of grey area really, where our game is very, very expensive to play here so we ostracise the traditionally talented players and their backgrounds.

“We have to find that happy medium where we can make the game affordable and we can cover the costs to participate.

“I think continuity is really important in a young players development. You don’t hop around from school to school. So, for us to do so in a football sense would probably suggest that there have been some challenges in making sure we have continuity in our football learning environments.

“And that’s something that we have to overcome as clubs so that there is faith and trust.

“I think the hopping around nowadays is aligned to a coach and a coach moving between clubs, there’s then a transfer of junior players to move with somebody they trust.

“So how do we create environments where coaches stay? And professional environments, full-time job opportunities, that’s the type of thing we should look to try and build if we can.

“And again, as professional clubs, and that’s kind of the model we’re trying to implement here. Because there’s no doubt that continuity is really important for the kids if they’re going to learn to develop as football students.”