The Hunter Region hasn't produced a Socceroo for 20 years, but the Newcastle Jets youth system is determined to change this.
Col Curran, the only Novocastrian to have played at the men's World Cup, said he was "really furious that we've had no Socceroos [from the Hunter] for 20 years since Robbie Middleby".
His comments come ahead of the men's World Cup in Qatar, which begins in just over a week.
Coach Graham Arnold announced the Socceroos squad this week.
While former Jets players Craig Goodwin and Riley McGree made the squad, none were homegrown players from the Hunter.
Newcastle Jets academy director Gary van Egmond said the lack of Socceroos from the Northern NSW Football sector showed "there's something fundamentally wrong".
"It's not good enough, especially for the amount of players in the area and the amount of participation and the love of football we have in the Hunter and Northern NSW. We need to fix that," Mr van Egmond said.
Jets CEO Shane Mattiske said "this region had some famous Socceroos in the past".
"In the last couple of decades that pipeline doesn't seem to be producing talent at the same level on the male side. The pipeline has produced really great female talent," Mr Mattiske said, adding the club's new academy aimed to improve this.
Mr Curran also lamented a lack of Novocastrians in the Jets first team.
"There's hardly any locals coming through that make the Jets," he said.
Mr van Egmond, a former Socceroo, said more work needs to be done with players "on an individual basis".
"That's been sorely lacking," he said.
"Our mantra is high performance. We're trying to produce Socceroos, Matildas, junior national team players for boys and girls and A-League players."
Former Newcastle Jets player David Carney played for the Socceroos at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
He played 48 times for the national team.
Mr Carney was brought up in Campbelltown, played for Macarthur Rams, NSW Institute of Sport and Westfield Sports High School in Sydney, before signing for Everton in the UK as a 16-year-old. He went on to play for clubs including Sheffield United and Sydney FC.
"Youth development is a massive thing. That's where you learn your trade. You're like a sponge. Players who work hard seem to blossom a lot more than the others that don't," said Mr Carney, who now coaches Wollongong Wolves.
His development at Everton was crucial to his career.
"We were training sometimes three times a day. At 16,17,18 years of age, it's just so important. It makes you more technical and aware of what it takes to make it as a footballer," he said.
"I definitely think if I didn't have that training at that age, I probably wouldn't have had the career I had."
He said the Jets were "obviously trying to implement what they think will work".
"I personally don't think the younger age groups in this country play enough games to improve.
"I think the kids have too much of a break, with two to three months out of the game where they're not playing competitive football. It's far too long. We're falling behind the eight-ball, compared to other countries."
Mr van Egmond said he admired the French national football academy, known as Clairefontaine.
He'd like to see something like that in Australia and he'd like the Jets academy to have a home of its own.
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