Australian soccer development guru Ron Smith guides son and Adelaide Comets coach Barney Smith, while helping SA football
He is widely credited with unearthing and nurturing the Socceroos’ ‘Golden Generation’. Now, Ron Smith is guiding his son’s blossoming coaching career at Adelaide Comets, while lending a hand to SA soccer.
Local Soccer SA
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local Soccer SA. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Why I returned to the Reds: Stefan Mauk
- How to get the most out of your Advertiser digital subscription
Barney Smith has barely left Ellis Park, when he gets the usual post-training phone call.
The familiar voice on the other end of the line wants to know every intricate detail from the pre-season session the Adelaide Comets coach has just ran for his NPL SA side.
But when the questions are coming from the man widely credited with nurturing the Socceroos’ ‘Golden Generation’, who also happens to be his dad, the chat is far from a chore.
“He’s obsessed,” jokes Smith, of his father and legendary Australian soccer mentor Ron Smith.
“I’ll be driving home in the car and he’ll usually ring me up.
“I like to film all our sessions, so he’ll say ‘how was training, when are you going to have that drone footage up, I want to watch it’.
“We kind of drive each other a bit insane at times.
“But it’s our common ground and he challenges me regularly to think about things.
Stream over 50 sports live & anytime on your TV or favourite device with KAYO SPORTS. The biggest Aussie sports and the best from overseas. Just $25/month. No lock-in contract. Get your 14-day free trial >
“His influence on me as a coach and what I do with teams, is immense.”
The ex-Canberra Cosmos and Paramatta Power goalkeeper, who led Comets to the elite ranks for the first time nine years ago, is using the new role to spread his dad’s vast knowledge.
Ron ran a player development seminar for the club this week, before presenting a workshop on goal scoring patterns, based on his PhD, to coaches from across the state.
The former Australian Institute of Sport football boss said it was an opportunity to shape the learning habits of mentors, while spending time in Adelaide with his son and granddaughters.
“I get a lot of satisfaction out of sharing information,” Ron, 70, said.
“But Barney has always had a great ability to connect with people.
“That’s something that is essential if you want to get involved in coaching.
“I was never really one to say to Barney, ‘do this or do that’.”
“I’ll say ‘well, what do you see?’
“He’s his own man. But it’s nice to have a sounding board.”
Ron helped establish the Canberra-based talent factory in 1981 and was head mentor from 1986-96.
The famed program unearthed 11 members of Australia’s history-making 2006 World Cup squad, including Mark Viduka, Craig Moore, Lucas Neil, Brett Emerton and SA’s John Aloisi.
Ron later had spells in Malaysia and as FFA technical manager, then spent a decade studying attacking trends across men’s and women’s World Cups, as well as the globe’s top leagues.
It formed the basis for earning a doctorate on the topic from the University of Canberra.
“The research tells us that in transition when everybody can’t defend, that’s when teams are most vulnerable and when most of the goals are scored,” the former Perth Glory coach said.
“If we know that playing through the whole team is the toughest challenge that you’re going to face, why would you pass the ball backwards when you can go forwards?
“But there’s so much analysis in football now ... in the future, we’re going to have to try and train players to be able to think on their feet a lot more.
“What you need is a balance.
“You need a little bit of guidance and structure, and the freedom to express yourself.
“It’s that message I’m trying to spread with coaches.”
London-born Ron praised SA’s track record for producing top-level players, but lamented the closure of the Centre of Excellence at the AIS in 2017.
“We always used to say ‘the day we don’t need the AIS is when we’ve got full-time professional clubs able to duplicate what we’re doing’,” he said.
“I don’t think there’s a club in the country that could duplicate the AIS at the moment and some of them are a long, long way from it.
“We got rid of the program long before we were in a position to say ‘we don’t need it’.
“I think we’re missing it.”
Barney said his father still had much to offer future generations of the game, particularly in his adopted home state.
“From a coaching perspective across the country, we don’t do enough for coaches outside of doing your licence,” the 41-year-old said.
“The opportunity to bring him (Ron) here to share some of that gold dust that comes from years and years of football experience and analysis ... is a free kick for SA.”