And coming after his candid interview with ESPN recently, and a lively group chat on Optus Sport with other former Golden Generation Socceroos, his inclusion has many fans upbeat about the possibilities of the panel. 

The makeup of the panel, judging by the public reaction, has largely been well received, too - but not unanimously.

However, this idea isn’t new at FFA. It was rolled out four years ago. 

In 2016, FFA launched a Football Development Committee (FDC) to little fanfare...certainly much less fanfare than this week’s announcement. 

Respected figures included former Socceroo Stan Lazaridis, former Matilda Kim Schaefer and former Australian Institute of Sport Head Coach Ron Smith were all appointed to the FDC. 

The FDC was a board sub-committee with a mandate to provide advice to the FFA Board.
 
The FDC was chaired by FFA director Joseph Healy, with fellow directors Moya Dodd and Danny Moulis as members.FFA Chairman Steven Lowy AM said at the time the appointment of independent members to sub-committees delivers on the Board’s strategy of embracing the broader football community.
 
But with former FFA CEO David Gallop struggling to rouse football’s heartland as his tenure went on, the idea went largely unheralded. 
 
One insider tells FTBL: “Speaking about ideas is easy.
 
"Actually implementing them and understanding all the different complexities needed to implement and putting decisions in place, that’s the harder part. It’s a great initiative though.”