Oakleigh Cannons manager Chris Taylor believes the alignment of the National Premier League and A-League calendars could be the first step in unlocking the seemingly perennial stall on Football Australia’s proposed National Second Division.
Although the Cannons are not one of the eight clubs awaiting the Federation’s green light to compete nationally, there are few more entitled to a view on Australia’s semi-professional ranks than Taylor; a four-time Victorian NPL Championship-winning manager, he earlier this year became the first man to manage 600 Victorian top-flight matches.
Titles with Dandenong City Thunder, South Melbourne and most-recently the Cannons in 2022 have seen Taylor at the pointy end of the State’s proceedings over almost three decades, having first managed Green Gully Cavaliers in 1995. Despite all that’s gone, he retains an optimism for what could come of an integrated system.
‘I think it’s inevitable that some sort of ‘B-League’ will eventuate, and we do need it. There’s got to be a pathway towards the A-League and I think the first thing we should be doing is making the leagues parallel’, Taylor told Box2Box.
‘NPL Victoria is probably the best league outside the A-League, I believe, and it would be nice if we played at the same time. That way, if we have a boy playing well at South Melbourne or Oakleigh, and there might be an injury at Melbourne City or Melbourne Victory, they can call on that player.
‘I think there will [eventually] be promotion/relegation, but we all need to know what that will look like and at the moment, I don’t think anyone does. The A-League wage bills are vastly higher, so someone’s got to put their thinking cap on and see how funds can be raised for B-League teams to travel interstate, players to become full time.’
Taylor also believes a secondary national competition would go a long way to remedy Australia’s much-discussed youth development. For the numerous issues that ultimately saw it go broke, the old-NSL is forever lauded for the opportunities it allowed young players and widely considered the bedrock of the success achieved by the Golden Generation of Socceroos. Few would argue the A-League era has produced the same amount of fruit.
Oakleigh once again find themselves firmly in the mix for silverware ahead of this Sunday’s NPL Grand Final, with an Australian Cup quarter-final against Macarthur to follow on Wednesday. For players with professional aspirations, this time in the spotlight is short-lived and far from guaranteed.
‘I’m convinced the talent pool is there. We’ve always produced very good players at youth level; I played in the NSL with John Markovski, who was fifteen. We had greats coming through: Paul Trimboli, Andrew Marth, who got their senior debuts early.
‘I now have boys turning up for pre-season, 22 years of age, who have never played a senior game. A-League clubs have talent pathways right the way from 13-18, then 21-23, but [almost] none of these players play senior football.
‘That’s where the B-League clubs should come in, grab players at 18 from City, Victory, and develop them. It’s not to say A-League clubs don’t develop players, but they don’t do it enough. There’s one or two every second or third year, whereas you might have forty or fifty players through a [second tier] system. That’s how NPL clubs can step up and give those players the opportunity they deserve, and then they might get pushed through to the A-League.’
Oakleigh now shape up for a second NPL Grand Final against South Melbourne in three years, less than a month after losing the Dockerty Cup final to the same opponents on penalties. In 2022 the Cannons blitzed Hellas 5-0 on the way to their long-awaited first Victorian top-flight Championship, while also reaching the Australia Cup semi-finals.
‘Finals can go either way and we’ll head in as heavy underdogs. South have been by far the best side this year, they stood up in the league and won by six points, so are worthy Premiers. Losing the Dockerty Cup is one you have to live with for a while, but penalties do become a lottery.
‘I do think we put to bed a few of those demons in getting over the line against Heidelberg. Getting to a Grand Final is an achievement in itself, so we look forward to the challenge and hopefully, we can win some more silverware.’