Kevin Muscat has hailed the ‘dramatic’ improvement in standards he has witnessed during the A-League’s brief history ahead of the competition’s 1000th game.
Kevin Muscat has hailed the ‘dramatic’ improvement in standards he has witnessed during the A-League’s brief history ahead of the competition’s 1000th game.
Muscat, who made his senior debut in the now defunct National Soccer League, has been a constant presence in Australia’s elite club competition since its launch in 2005, serving as inaugural captain of Melbourne Victory, before joining the backroom staff.
Now head coach, he will be in charge as the Victory host the Newcastle Jets in the milestone 1000th game at AAMI Park on Sunday.
And the 40-year-old is better placed than most to assess the major strides the domestic game has made since being relaunched.
“I think the football’s improved dramatically,” he said.
“From where we started to where we are now, for a whole range of reasons. And as the football has improved, the level of players we can attract to the country now has improved dramatically as well.
“Stadiums, playing surfaces … all those things haven’t had a choice but to improve because the level of football we’re playing now demands those sort of things.
“From our perspective, from where we started, playing across the road at Olympic Park, to outgrowing that, getting huge crowds at Etihad Stadium and also selling AAMI out. It’s been a mind-boggling 10 years.”
Victory skipper Mark Milligan made his first senior appearance for Northern Spirit in the NSL, and was part of the inaugural A-League campaign with Sydney FC in 2005.
He spent part of the 2008-09 season with the Jets, before three years overseas with Shanghai Shenhua and JEF United Chiba, returning to Australia with the Victory in 2012.
As he prepares to take on his former team in the landmark fixture, the 28-year-old talked up the changes the A-League underwent between his two spells in the competition.
“It’s a big privilege for our club and Newcastle to be involved in such an event,” he said.
“The growth that I saw from the time I was away was massive. The jump in standard was incredible.
“The calibre of players coming back, both Australian and foreigners, is a tribute to how far it’s come.”
