Under Scheinflug’s watch, the 1991 and 1993 Young Socceroos made the semi-finals of the U-20 World Cup, while in 1999 the Joeys made the final of the U-17 World Cup.

Many of Scheinflug’s teams were made up of players who came through the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) program in Canberra. But in August this year, FFA announced funding would be withdrawn from the Centre of Excellence (CoE) program which meant the end of football’s involvement with the AIS.

In announcing the closure, FFA CEO David Gallop said the governing body’s resources would be better spent in a decentralised and expanded system that is run within the A-League and NPL club structures.

But Scheinflug vehemently disagrees with the decision.

“It makes me sick,” he says. “Because there was nothing broken. They want to make the rich clubs richer. Who makes the money in those academies?  Sydney FC, Western Sydney and Central Coast Mariners will make the money. 

“They are dividing and conquering, that is what they have done between the A-League and NPL clubs. They only want to look after the top end. Like Sydney FC with their academy and Westfield a top end school. No, it doesn’t work that way.

“The FFA are stopping us from producing players because they’re hungry for money and charging players in the NPL over $2000-$3000. I would never have played for Australia or captained Australia if I was playing now, my father could not have afforded it.”

Scheinflug believes investment in coaching, combined with the pre-existing structure is what was needed to improve Australia’s youth system, instead of the dramatic overhaul that has taken place over the last decade.

“There was nothing wrong with the way we were running our youth programs,” he said

“It only needed to be polished up with money and better-quality coaches. One day the FFA say we must concentrate on passing, playing out of defence and using a 4-3-3 formation.

"Now suddenly because of poor results they can’t fix anything and now they are saying we must have a pilot program in schools.  

“Something has to be changed at the top. The power which Steve Lowy has got at the moment, the FFA can do whatever they want, and the clubs are waking up to them now.”

The pilot program Scheinflug has referenced is an initiative by FFA Technical Director Eric Abrams who introduced a high-performance football pilot program at Westfield Sports High.

The program would see member federations, A-League academies and the state-based competitions connected with kids at school giving them 12-14 extra hours of coaching a week.

However, Scheinflug doesn’t believe that system will work in Australia.

“Schools will not fix our problem, the money has to be invested into quality young coaches getting paid what they are worth,” he said.

“You will not produce many, many players coming through the school system. We don’t have enough schools who will implement soccer in their programs.

"It’s no good having Westfield and two other schools and the rest of Australia stops still. 

“It’s a different thing being a school teacher and being an ex- football player who can teach and instruct players and show them what they are doing is wrong or right."