It would be difficult to recognise the Belgian league of today compared to the one that existed at the start of the 70s. It has come a long way in 25 years and on the back of the country's status as joint hosts of the next European Championship, it is preparing to take another major step forward.

Back in the 70s a number of those running the league had a vision of what was under way in the countries around them. They realised that their league, if it was to survive, had to act. And so it did.

At that time Anderlecht was one of only a couple of clubs in the country which boasted a truly professional set-up. Now there are around 25 clubs - the whole of the top flight and the more ambitious of those immediately below.

In terms of European football the result has been consistently good performances. Over the years Anderlecht have won both the Cup Winners' Cup (twice) and the UEFA Cup, while FC Bruges have appeared in the final of the latter. Another, though closely-related, consequence of Belgium's foresight was that the country's talented youngsters realised that going away to play football didn't necessarily equate with a successful career. Clubs managed to develop a system of bringing through the most talented players and giving them opportunities to prove themselves at senior level.

Recently the leading clubs have found it more difficult to compete with the giants of Germany, Spain and Italy, but a teenager in Belgium is still far more likely to have career opportunities at home than in the youth team structures of some foreign club.

The long-term benefits of this situation were seen on Saturday night. Seven of the 11 players who started Saturday's match in Brussels still play their football at home.

The fact that not one player from our National League is ever even mentioned in serious speculation regarding a squad for a forthcoming match shows just how far we still have to go in this country.

Boys in Ireland remain convinced that the best way to further their careers is to take the ferry. As long as that is the situation, clubs here have an enormous problem.

The opposition by Irish clubs to the recent proposal by Manchester United to provide coaching for an elite group of players in Dublin on Saturdays is understandable. But, as in the case of the Wimbledon saga, they are hiding behind rules and regulations which might be cast aside in the courts of Europe.

Irish clubs are themselves catching on to the fact that they must be at the centre of elite player development. Bray Wanderers, Galway United and Athlone Town are just three clubs who have made huge strides forward over the last year or two.

But much more needs to be done to persuade youngsters who head to England - where the sad reality is that the majority (perhaps 95 per cent) will fail to make it - that it is the wrong decision.

It is up to National League clubs to achieve a situation where it is manifestly wiser to stay here than to disappear into the twilight zone of the big English side's training-scheme structures.

If that can be achieved, if the National League becomes a place where young stars can come of age and then move on to England in return for a fee as well as a decent wage, and if our league provides an environment in which young players can start to achieve international standard, then it can look to the future with some degree of confidence.

Some clubs claim that they cannot afford to develop youth structures and provide our most talented youth with a future. The sad fact is, as the Belgians realised a quarter of a century ago, they can't afford not to.