Australian Professional Leagues (APL) chief executive Danny Townsend has said his organisation is examining its regulatory framework surrounding youth development and needs to fill a "gaping hole" that exists in its A-League Men pathways.
Leagues commissioner Greg O'Rourke has called for greater consultation as Football Australia opens expressions of interest (EOI) for its new national second-tier.
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According to FbRef, the average age of the ALM, weighted by minutes played, has risen to 27.85 so far in 2022-23, increasing by approximately half a year compared to 2021-22, and almost a year and a half more than 2020-21. Western United and Sydney FC both have average ages of over 30 across their opening 16 games and Western Sydney isn't far behind on 29.8.
Only Central Coast has an average age under 26 this season on this metric, compared to the previous two campaigns in which four teams averaged 26 and under.
Townsend said that the league administrators were aware of this trend and were constantly examining its regulations to ensure they met both the demands of fans and pursued broader footballing objectives such as stronger national teams and a steady flow of players leaving for bigger overseas leagues.
"The pandemic was a unique point in time and we think what we did during that period was we went skewed so heavily into youth, that we are the number one league in Asia for youth minutes," Townsend told ESPN. "We're naturally going to settle back in an area ideally, somewhere between where we came from and where we ended up during COVID. I think that's where we are.
"I think it's proven that young talent can make a big difference to the performance of a team. What you're seeing is a maturation process of the investments in development pathways, the A-League academies have been in place now for the best part of seven or eight years.
"We're in constant dialogue with clubs around this and what are they seeing? What would they like to see?
"Making it a better product for our fans is always central to what we want to do. Is that more young players? Is that more foreigners? What is that over time?
"And you've also got to do that in conjunction with the macro environment that's around you. What's the AFC doing? What decisions are they making around foreign quotas and those types of things?"
Townsend said that the leagues' technical directors met before Christmas to begin the process of determining if they would make regulatory changes for next season, with meetings set to continue regularly over the coming months.
One of the major levers they can pull is exhuming its youth league, the A-League Youth, which was put in mothballs at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and has remained in that state. The APL has made multiple commitments to returning it since taking control of the leagues, as well as improving on the deficient, eight-game model it operated in.
Townsend, however, has previously cited Football Australia's moves to introduce a national second tier as a complicating factor in efforts. The federation formally opened expressions of interest for this new league in early February, signaling its intentions to set up a home-and-away winter format that will run from March 2024.
"There's a gaping hole at the moment from the months around September, October through to March at the moment and we've got to fill that," Townsend said. "But we can't do it blindly.
"We've got to look at the environment around us. The national second division is an important part of that, the A-League summer proposition for youth development.
"Complementing what happens in the winter is important because I had a long chat with Arnie [Socceroos coach Graham Arnold], he's massive on competitive match minutes, competitive matches for young players and at the moment aren't playing enough. They're not playing enough high-calibre matches.
"Our goal is to ensure that there are 12 months a year where our best young talented footballers can play competitive football matches."
Outgoing APL commissioner O'Rourke welcomed the opening of EOIs and progress towards a second tier but called for a greater level of consultation.
The executive also highlighted the importance of developmental objectives in the new league, something Football Australia chief executive James Johnson has told ESPN will be a focus.
"We want to see more people playing and watching football in Australia and New Zealand, and are supportive of the development of club football," O'Rourke said.
"Importantly, any second tier should play an important role in the development pathway for Australian football. Although we are aware of the proposals we have not been involved in any consultation and are keen to better understand the proposed approach.
"There has not yet been a full consultation process with all stakeholders and we are keen to understand what that process will look like."