Wednesday November 19, 2008 8:53 am

The Futsal4all Interviews : Scott Gilligan

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Recently Futsal4all took the opportunity to interview the Australian Mens Coach Scott Gilligan. Apart from being the present National Coach, Scott has an incredible list of accomplishments and history with the sport of Futsal here in Australia and also within the Oceania region.

Having first been exposed to the sport in its ‘Indoor Soccer’ incarnation back in 1971, Scott’s been involved with Futsal for over 35 years now and is still going strong. He gives a lot of his time and knowledge.

Before you read the interview its well worth checking out Scott’s impressive list of accomplishments, available here.

F4A : Hi Scott, you have an extensive background in Futsal in Oceania at the highest levels, what is your current position?

SG : Currently I am employed by Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) as their Futsal Development Officer. It is an exciting time in the Oceania Region as OFC realise that a great opportunity awaits the countries in this region due to Australia’s move to AFC. Oceania gets an automatic berth in the Futsal World Cup as well as the Beach Soccer World Cup and each country wants to embrace both sports in order to give them the best opportunity to be the qualifier from OFC.

F4A : What first got you interested in Futsal?

SG : Actually my mother, Dawn, coached my outdoor soccer team when I was 9 years old and we had a really wet season. She was working at South Bankstown YMCA in Revesby at the time and brought my team into play soccer in the gymnasium. I loved it. After that my mother and the manager of the YMCA, Mr Joe Brent, decided to write to England to obtain the rules of Indoor Soccer. This was the real birth of the sport. A few years later Joe instigated the formation of the Australian Indoor Soccer Association. In 1983 FIFUSA, the then governing body of Futsal, approached Joe about converting to Futsal. In 1984 the sport was trialled and I didn’t like it at first. However after 4 games I was hooked because I wasn’t getting hacked by the less skilful players when playing “rebound” and Futsal made it a much more skill oriented game. I think this was the first time I saw Radovan (Sisko) Filipovic play and he was fantastic. I never looked back after that although I occasionally played the “rebound” version every now and then for a few more years.

F4A : Was it one of your early goals to go on to coach Australia?

SG : When I first started playing at 9 years old I had no other thoughts but to enjoy myself because I realised I was good at the game. I suppose as time went on I had stepping stones however coaching Australia was not really something I entertained until I really felt my playing career at International level was over. That was in 1988. At that time I was just happy to coach younger players as there were no “experts” around then and I wanted to pass on the knowledge that I had gained from my overseas touring experiences. I actually started coaching kids when I was 15 at Kellyville when my mother started competitions there.

My first real thought about coaching the Men’s Australian Futsal team was probably in 1996 when I took the Reserve Men’s team to Brazil and we had a fairly successful tour. The Australian team had been to Brazil one month earlier enroute to the World Cup and we virtually played the same teams as they did. They lost every game but we managed to win 3, draw 2 and lose 5. The last game was against a team called the “Volkswagon Clubbe” and we drew 2-2 with them. The Australian team lost 2-8 and after the game their coach asked me why the First Australian team didn’t play like we did. That got me thinking that one day maybe…

F4A : When did you transition from playing to full time coaching?

SG : I only stopped playing in 2002 because I was the coach of the Australian team and I felt it was better to stop playing against players that I was looking at coaching. I thought there was a need to have some distance between the coach and the players. I still played at a few local centres where none of these players played until 2004. I had an operation on my ankle in August 2007 and I just recently had a run at Minto. I love the game and I want to play again just for fun.

F4A : Have you found coaching to be a more rewarding role for you compared with your playing days?

SG : I believe that both are equally rewarding however for different reasons. When I was playing I loved scoring goals and in all my years I scored over 2000 of them. There are some goals I still remember and there are some great games I played in that I still remember. For instance one game in the State Championships held at Minto in my Mad Alison days I scored 10 goals in a game that we won 12-2. I had 13 shots that day and quote “I was on fire”. Simo and Chuck still occasionally talk about that day.

Coaching is rewarding when the tactical moves you and your team practice in training work in a game and all benefit from the outcome. In 1991 I took a young team to Mexico and in the first game we were losing 0-1 at halftime. The boys had not used a single thing I had taught them and at halftime I asked them to trust me. At the beginning of the second half we scored a goal from a set move and every player, both on the field and on the bench, looked directly at me and I just smiled. It was very satisfying. They went on to win every game but one. The only problem with coaching is that you, the coach, can’t physically get out there and show them on game day when things don’t go right where if you are playing you can fix it.

F4A : Coaching at that top level, did you find you had support (politically and financially) to achieve the targets set for you? For example in the case of FIFA Referee Scott Kidson he had to sacrifice a fair bit of time and money to go as far as he has in refereeing. Was it similar for you in coaching?

SG : When I represented Australia as a player I had to pay my own way but as a coach some costs were subsidised. I was appointed the coach of the Australian Men’s Futsal team when the FFA took active control and since then I have had good support from them however I am sure that the team could use some more. Of course there are always people that believe they can do a better job and always find something to knock and that is typical of everyday society when you are at the top.

F4A : Have you found your coaching approach and technique has changed over the years, or have the fundamentals pretty much remained unchanged since you started?

SG : For me the key is to ensure you treat the players as individuals and ensure that you improve each player so that the team benefits. It is important to find the right trigger for each individual in order to get the best out of them. Some need praise while others need a good berating. The other key is to ensure you have patience and repetition is important. Over the years I have learnt that more hands on coaching is needed for the younger age groups where as the Aussie team is more 80% psychology.

F4A : Do you have a preferred age group and gender when it comes to coaching?

SG : I enjoy the challenge of coaching any team but if I had to choose it would definitely be the Women. I always find this the most rewarding because there are some very good players who only want to get better. They are always at training and are willing to try new things and this has been the case in all my years coaching Women.

F4A : The NSW Premier League and Super League has some impressive and talented coaches coming through. Have you noticed an overall improvement in coaching skills across the board, or is it the same few key individuals carrying more of the load when it comes to the advanced coaching?

SG : In general I don’t really think the improvement of the standard of the League’s has come from the coaching. The two League’s competitiveness has attracted a better calibre of junior player (just look at the female side of things). I truly believe the 16 year girl’s competition in the Premier League has been the best competition in the past two years out of all of them. I will probably put a few noses out of joint here but I believe the main problem, and I am sure Rob Varela will encounter this shortly, in his new position, is that most coaches believe they know Futsal. Unfortunately most don’t and most don’t wish to acknowledge this. I am not saying that there aren’t some very good coaches around because there are but certainly nowhere near enough.

F4A : Are you confident we have reasonable successors coming through the ranks to take over successfully from you as the Australian Coach?

SG : Once again I will put noses out of joint here but I don’t believe at this moment in time that there is. I know there are a lot of people who think they could do a better job but I don’t believe anyone is ready yet. Hopefully this will change but to be successful they need to realise that you never stop learning and there is always somebody who can teach you something, even if they have more or less experience. Steven Knight would be my choice at the moment but in the past I believe Andrew Lancaster would have been capable had he stuck with the sport. I think Paul McKarzel from QLD would have been a candidate in the future but he is still a little inexperienced at this stage too. I am sure that other people will have a few suggestions.

F4A : You have been involved in a number of World Cups with Australia. Do any of them stand out above the others?

SG : 1988 for sure. The Aussie team were fantastic! I remember the Socceroos had beaten Argentina 4-1 and the Futsalroos (who were known as the Indooroos then) had a point to prove. Australia made it through to the second round and had to face Argentina and they beat them 7-3. It was a great moment. In the end the Indooroos finished 6th overall. The team had some great players such as Radovan (Sisko) Filipovic, Steven Knight, Robbie Stuart, Richie Barnard, Glenn (Java) Jeffreys and probably the best GK the Aussie team has had yet, Bruce Thurlow, just to name a few. What a team!

F4A : How was the 2008 World Cup? You took on a Technical Advisor’s role with the Solomon Islands team, which is a credit to your experience in the region. Was it a much different feeling for you this time not having the buck stop with you?

SG : It’s funny how things fall into place and I think a little background should be laid first. I actually only got this position because of circumstances.

I was asked by FIFA to conduct a Coaching Course in Vietnam in January of this year. At the same time I was contacted by Patrick Jacquemet (FIFA Assistant Development Officer for OFC) to consider conducting a series of Coaching Courses in the OFC region. He realised that he was not capable of delivering the course as he was a Football man not a Futsal man and as we had met in Tahiti in 2005 (when I presented Futsal to the Presidents of the countries affiliated to OFC) he knew that I was. I knew he worked for FIFA and I suggested that he come to Vietnam with me as my assistant so that he could see what the course entailed.

After that he persuaded Reynald Temarii (FIFA Vice President, OFC President and Tahiti Football Federation President) to enlist me for Oceania. However Reynald wanted to be sure I was the right man for the job so he asked me to be the Technical Advisor for the Tahiti team for the Oceania Qualifiers. Tahiti had only just begun to play Futsal and the team chosen to represent Tahiti was actually the winner from a tournament that had been conducted a month earlier. I was lucky enough to have 2 months with them and they improved immensely.

Tahiti finished 2nd in the Qualifiers much to everyone’s surprise and before the tournament had finished both the Solomon’s and Vanuatu’s contingents had approached Reynald about obtaining my services if either country qualified for the World Cup. Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to help the Solomon’s as much as I would have liked because I only had 2 weeks with them before the tournament. My job was to help the coach as well as the team so you are right in saying that the buck doesn’t stop with me. It was a difficult time for me because there are times where I would have done things differently during the games if I were the coach however this is not what a Technical Advisor’s role is. I am there to impart knowledge and allow the coach to make the decisions and to learn from the experience.

The other difficult thing was seeing that the lesser countries have really bridged the gap on the stronger countries so I was continually cursing that Australia didn’t have the opportunity to see how far we have come. I know that we have improved a lot since joining AFC but this would have been the perfect test for us to see how much we have really improved.

As for the other countries, Brazil has improved their discipline in defence and their attitude has changed for the better. Spain is still as formidable as ever and these two countries are still the leaders. I thought Italy had dropped off and Portugal was a little disappointing. I thought the two countries that impressed me the most in terms of AFC were Iran and Thailand. Both had exceptional tournaments and Iran was very unlucky not to make the semi finals. The other impressive team was Guatamala. What a turnaround in 8 years. Fantastic!

F4A : The World Cup got a small amount of TV exposure here in Australia. You have already experienced the days of a regularly televised National League, something that a lot of the current Futsal fans have had no exposure to. Was it disheartening to lose that, or was it expected given the politics in the game at that time?

SG : It was very disheartening. As I remember it - Mike Wreblewski who at the time owned the Sydney Kings (basketball) wanted to take control of the League. He believed that one day Futsal would be bigger than basketball and he intended to run Futsal as a curtain raiser to basketball. In his mind he felt that in 5 years time basketball would be the curtain raiser for Futsal. However the powers that be who controlled Futsal back then felt that they would lose control of the sport and declined the offer. After this Mike withdrew his sponsorship and other sponsors followed suit. Since then there have been attempts at a National League, the last in 1998 (I think), but none as good as those days. As I said that is how I remember it, I could be wrong of course.

F4A : Have you noticed any genuine change in how the game is handled in Australia, or has it been a lot of talk and very little action.

SG : Hmmmm! This is a difficult subject however I will try and be objective. Since Futsal lost it’s autonomy I believe it hasn’t had any real direction. The FFA focus on the Socceroos (and rightly so) because this is the team that produces income for them. Futsal does not so at the moment the sport is suffering. However the FFA does have a plan for Futsal and are trying to come to terms with a discipline of football that they really have no expertise in. They want to ensure that they do everything right before embarking on a full scale program for Futsal. I do know that a National League is on the horizon and they want to ensure it is as professional as possible because they want it to work. As far as the State’s go there are still some that do not entertain Futsal at all. I think again that the sport is entrusted to people who do not have the expertise and already have enough to do with Football and therefore don’t have the time or the inclination to worry about it. I do believe that this will change eventually but I have no idea how long we will need to wait.

F4A : Can you name a few of the stand-out moments the sport has provided you with over the years?

SG : There are so many but I will only mention a few here. Attending my first World Cup Final (1985) in Spain with 21,000 people watching was incredible.

Playing the first National League game in Perth against the Perth Cougars in 1987 was a fond memory. There were 3,500 people there to see the game and about 500 people stayed back a couple of hours to discuss all things Futsal. Back then I thought “This sport is going to be huge”. How times change.

Coaching that team in Mexico at that moment made me very proud and helped me to really believe in my ability as a coach.

Winning my first game against Japan as the National Men’s Coach was a great moment and got the monkey off my back.

Also coaching the Women’s team in Portugal was a great moment. We lost the first game 1-8 I think and I remember Zoi Gamble leaving the field and saying “How are we supposed to beat this team” or something to that effect. That night we went through everything that the Portuguese team threw at us and I showed them how we could nullify all their moves. The next day, with the help of the captain Merryl Geribo, I got a different player to implement a different move that we had discussed the previous night to ensure they had understood. The next day we played and we lost 3-6 however we had 2 lapses in defence that cost us goals and we scored an own goal. At the same time we hit the post 3 times and had 4 one on ones with their GK but missed them all. Zoi came off the court and she said “We should have won that game”. For me it was a defining moment that showed that I could make a difference. I loved coaching those women and I still love coaching women’s teams.

I also enjoyed coaching my eldest son, James, in the 15 Boys Lightning team in 2007 when we won the title against the Thunder team. It was the only time I have coached one of my sons at State level for the whole tournament and I must say he was fantastic for the team and he played the best I have seen him play. I was very proud of him that tournament. Unfortunately I won’t get the chance to coach my youngest son, Anson, in a NSW team and that is disappointing but that’s life I suppose.

My most memorable moment however would have to be coaching and playing with the little known Macarthur Knights team that shocked everybody by winning the National Club Championships in 1995. Sydney City had won the previous 4 or 5 Nationals and was expected to win it again. They had beaten us previously in the Regional final 6-2 two days earlier and I remember the captain of their team saying at the presentation “It was a privilege for Macarthur to be on the court with them today”. This naturally didn’t sit well with my players and they were determined to do better in the club section. Amazingly we beat every team except Bankstown Falcons along the way. We drew 2-2 with them in the semi final but knocked them out on penalties. We once again faced up to Sydney City and I knew that my team were up for the challenge. We raced to a 3-0 lead only to allow them to come back to 3-2. However we secured victory with a lucky deflection and the best thing for me was that I didn’t set foot on the court. They did it all themselves and I was so proud of them. At the presentation, Joe Brent could only say “I can’t believe you guys won it”! Glenn Williams, our captain, then repeated word for word exactly what the Sydney City captain said two days previously. We just laughed our heads off. Priceless! Of course back then being National Club Champions was the one title every team wanted. For memory there was about 45 Men’s teams competing that year. The party afterwards was awesome!

F4A : You mentioned at the start of the interview your Futsal Development role within the OFC. What does that entail for you?

SG : At the moment I have presented a strategic plan, along with Brian Codrington from Dural, to OFC. Brian is the Chairman of the OFC Futsal Committee and we have spent quite a few days together over the past two months. The plan is to develop Futsal in the Oceania Region to be a fully integrated component of the Football code and a sport within its own right. All of these items I would have loved to implement in Australia but at the moment this is not a consideration.

My role will be to:
• Conduct Coaching Courses in each country
• Ensure each National team has the correct coaching strategies
• Help establish Elite Premier League competitions in each country
• Help organise a annual National Championships in each country
• Help organise an annual OFC Championship for each country’s winning teams
• Help organise an annual OFC Championship for 15 years academies, men’s and women’s national teams
• Assist countries in developing a team to attend the Australian National Championships annually
• Help implement Futsal as a school sport
• Develop academies in each country

The academy will initially be for 15 year boys in each country. 20 players will form each Academy. At the end of the year each country will select their best two players and they will form the Oceania Futsal Academy. This Academy will travel to Brazil for a month of training and games with elite Futsal coaches. At the end of the month the Brazilian coaches will nominate two players for a 6 month scholarship. Very exciting!

Each player that is selected for the Oceania Futsal Academy will return to their country upon completion and assist in implementing Junior Futsal Academies. The idea obviously is to ensure the younger players receive correct coaching in techniques and tactics. This in turn will ensure that each country’s National team will definitely improve over time.

F4A : An often discussed topic at the moment on Futsal4all is the state of Women’s Futsal at the International level under the FFA’s leadership (or lack of) whilst Vikings are just getting on with it and giving some of the top female players at least the chance of playing International teams. What are your thoughts on this and do you think the FFA review will make a difference there?

SG : The FFA is affiliated to FIFA. FIFA at this point in time do not have any tournaments for Women’s Futsal. Therefore the FFA does not have a need for a Women’s National Futsal Team. Since moving into Asia the current National teams under the FFA have increased their attendance in tournaments by approx 8 times more each. While in OFC the Aussie National teams, besides the Socceroos and the Matilda’s, played once every 4 years. Now they play twice a year and this means that the costs are far greater. Adding another team for which there are no tournaments does not make sense to the FFA. Under those circumstances I see where they are coming from. However this doesn’t appease the female players in Futsal because naturally they feel aggrieved, frustrated and overlooked. Once FIFA decide to conduct a Futsal tournament for Women the FFA will select a team.

At the moment Vikings are affiliated to AMF (I wonder what happened to the other people that were affiliated?). Vikings are trying to establish Fustal everywhere around Australia and I applaud them for doing this. While there is nothing within FFA for female players then I don’t see why all female players cannot play both and fulfil their dreams of representing their country. I just hope that the FFA does not discriminate against those that choose to do so while they are not even considering selecting a Women’s National team. When the time comes I assume players will then need to choose.

F4A : With over 35 years already up your sleeve in the sport, can you see yourself still heavily involved in Futsal going forward?

SG : I love this sport and I feel I have a lot to offer so I hope so. There were a few times in the last 3 years where I felt like walking away because of the frustrations I experienced working for an organisation that clearly had no plans for the sport I loved but I just couldn’t do it. I have many ideas and would love to implement them and OFC is a good place to start. I still have a few goals that I want to achieve and in time I hope to realise these. I would love to be able to add my expertise to the FFA when the time comes but I am not real sure what their ultimate plans are at this stage.

F4A : So what are your short and long term goals now?

SG : Short term is to establish Futsal in OFC and hopefully help Australia to qualify for the next World Cup. Long term would be to eventually coach professionally overseas and when I retire I would love to open my own centre and establish my own Academy programs with my own club.

F4A : And finally the question we ask all of our interviewees, where do you see Futsal headed in the Aussie/NZ region? Are we travelling in the right direction?

SG : Well NZ are probably in a worse state than we are because I don’t think Football NZ even acknowledges Futsal at the moment. That will be a tough task getting all the different factions together to get them moving in the right direction.

In Australia I find it frustrating because as I said previously the sport is in the hands of the State Football Federations and they do not have the expertise and all have other agendas to worry about. I honestly believe things will probably get worse before they start to get better however once the FFA get their act together and know what direction they want to head I think the sport will realise its true potential.

F4A : Scott thank you for your time. We look forward to seeing your efforts and guidance within the OFC bear fruit in the coming years.

Scott Gilligan’s Futsal History

• Started playing Indoor Soccer in 1971
• First represented NSW in 1981 (U/19) playing in the Men’s “B” competition
• First represented Australia in 1983
• Started playing Futsal in 1984

Significant Details :

• Currently Australian Men’s Futsal Coach (2001 to present)
• Technical Advisor for the Solomon Islands National Men’s Futsal team whom participated in the 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup
• Technical Advisor for the Tahiti National Men’s Futsal team for the 2008 Oceania Qualifying Tournament (Finished Runners-Up)
• Appointed FIFA Futsal Coaching Instructor 2005
• Previously coached the Australian Women’s Futsal team (1997 to 2000) and the Australian Reserve Men’s Futsal team (1996)
• Also coached Men’s (1997) and Women’s (1998) NSW teams for the National Futsal challenge as seen on SBS and Optus
• Past Club coach of the Campbelltown City Quake Futsal Club.

Accomplishments as a player :

• Australian Futsal Representative - U/23’s - 1983, Men’s - 1984 to 1988. Member of 2 World Championships Squads (1985 and 1988) plus 1 Pacific Cup Squad (1987). Reserve Men’s Player/Coach - 1996 and 1999, Masters Player/Coach 1998.
• NSW Futsal Representative - 1981 to 1983, 1985 to 1991, 1996 to 1998. Includes 9 winners medals and 2 runners-up medals
• Member of National Indoor Soccer League Champions “Sydney Tornadoes” - 1985 and 1986
• Member of National Club Championship winning teams 7 times - 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1995 and 2001 (retired in 2002)

Accomplishments as a coach :

• Australian Futsal Coach - 1988, 1991, 1993 to present. Includes Championship winning medals in Mexico (1991), Canada (1998), Italy (1999) and Holland (2001)
• Oceania Champions (2004) securing qualification to the 5th FIFA World Futsal Championship, Chinese Taipei (2004)
• NSW Futsal Coach - 1987 to 1993, 1996 to 2002, 2004 to 2007. Includes 20 winners medals (some years more than one - for eg: 2002 Women and 16 Girls + 2007 Men and 15 Boys) and 12 runners-up medals.
• NSW Schools Futsal Coach - 1996 and 1997, 2001 to 2005. Includes 4 winners medals and 3 runners-up medals
• National Futsal League Coach - 1987 (Lotto Allstars), 1989 (Kellyville “Amiga” Commodores), 1995 and 1996 (Southern Knights), 1997 (NSW Condors) and 1998 (NSW Women’s)
• National Club Championships Winners - 1983, 1984, 1995, 2001 and 2002
• In 1995 I received an Australia Day Medal for services to Futsal over 23 years and as one of the coach’s of the first successful tour of an Australian touring team of Brazil in 1994.