My travels in the UK will see me visit some of the less glamorous venues in world football to check on some of our Australian players who are building a career over here.

It is interesting to see that, as our game has developed at home, it has also created new challenges for players trying to climb to the highest levels the game has to offer. Years ago, playing in the lower leagues in the UK was seen as a first step in making the game your profession. Some of our greatest players played the early part of their careers at places like Milwall, Bradford and Bristol and used it as a launching pad to greater things.

The A-League lacks the need for the desperation of UK lower divisions. Credit:Getty Images

The lower leagues offer football at its most basic. Small stadiums, extreme weather, bumpy pitches, passionate local communities and often play that is not written in any curriculum. It does have one very appealing ingredient, however, and that is hunger. Clubs trying to survive, coaches struggling to avoid the sack and players striving to be discovered. You can see why the likes of Tim Cahill, Lucas Neill, Mark Schwarzer and Luke Wilkshire, among others, had determination in spades because they were able to rise from this desperate, in football terms, environment.

The A-League has now given our players an alternative route, but in many respects the challenges may be even greater. Our domestic league lacks many of the ingredients that forces players in the lower leagues to work harder so as to be discovered. There is no relegation, more than half the teams are deemed successful with the finals format, the stadiums are all comfortable, the pitches mostly pristine, and even the weather fosters a comfortable surrounding, barring heat waves of course.