Player Trials in the legal spotlight as young Australian footballer takes legal action against an A-League club

Recently, Mark Moric, a talented young Australian footballer who trialed for the A-League club Central Coast Mariners (Mariners) for almost four months without being paid, took legal action in a case that could set a precedent on the legality of unpaid work, trials and internships in Australia.

Background of the matter

Football player trials used to be a significant process for clubs to identify player talent. However, trials have become increasingly rare as clubs now rely on a network of scouts, their academies and scouting platform tools like Wyscout, Instat and Scisports Index to find talent.

In Australia however, most A-League clubs still use a trial process to assess younger players for professional contracts.

The case of Mark Moric has two aspects which make it fascinating. Firstly, it will affect the long-standing culture in the football business of trialing younger talented players or lesser known players for a long period of time and secondly, it will impact how promises allegedly made by clubs are treated that following a trial period, a professional contract will be made available.

Mr Moric’s trial was from April 2019 (when he returned from Europe) to...

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