Our online poll in 2008 indicated Australian players wanted to trial and play their football in Europe, in particular the English Premier League. We did some research to locate where Australian football players were based. The results may surprise you. Our results are based on findings for the 2008 season.
Scotland : 10 players : Ireland : 3 players : England : 50 players : Spain : 1 player : Norway : 3 players : Denmark : 3 players : Holland : 6 players : Poland : 1 player : Germany : 9 players : Switzerland : 2 players : Croatia : 2 players : Hungary : 2 players : Italy : 7 players: Servia : 1 player : Macedonia : 1 player: Greece : 3 players : Cyprus : 1 player : Turkey : 3 players : Romania : 1 player : Georgia : 1 player: Japan : 4 players : China : 1 player : Malaysia : 1 player : USA : 6 players.
It is worth noting that of the 50 Australian football players, playing in England, only 23 of the players were involved in the English Premier League, 27 playing in the lower tiers and 5 of the 50 players were playing in the sixth tier in England.
For many young Australian born players the “rest of the world” may be their only way of playing in the English Premier League due to new FA (Football Association) and FIFA regualtions regarding foreign players signing contracts in England coming from Australia.