English football legend Michael Owen, who played for many years at Liverpool, has harshly criticized South Africa’s football development system.
In an interview with IOL, Owen stated that one of the main reasons South African players fail to break into elite European clubs is the lack of a long-term football development structure in the country.
“Look, it’s really difficult. If your structure doesn’t support it, it’s very hard to succeed. And it’s quite clear that in South Africa, the system supports rugby players — maybe cricketers,” Owen said.
He pointed out that although football is extremely popular in South Africa, essential components like nurturing young talent within a proper system, providing sufficient football education, offering a clear career path, financial support, and proper facilities are all lacking in the country:
“When it comes to football, getting young players through the system and properly educated — and I’m talking about football education — a clear career path, the finances, the facilities… these things simply don’t exist in South Africa.”
PASSION FOR FOOTBALL IS NOT ENOUGH
Owen emphasized that passion for the sport alone is not enough, and that building massive stadiums means nothing without proper development structures:
“There’s no point in having a 100,000-seater stadium that cost a billion pounds. That’s the end game. If you want good players, you’ve got to start at the very beginning.”
“And that means kids have to be playing football in schools. There has to be a pathway. A lot of elements need to come together in order to build that system.”
Finally, Owen acknowledged South Africans’ love for football but reiterated that the country continues to invest primarily in cricket and rugby rather than the sport most people are passionate about.