The young goalkeeper Patrick Beach has enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent months. Of course, signing for Troyes and playing all three matches so far in the club’s start to Ligue 1 has been special for Beach, but nothing will top playing in the World Cup and notching two clean sheets in the process.

I still remember when Beach pulled on a Melbourne City shirt for the first time in his career. Who knew that it would be the start of something incredibly special? In his first season in senior football, he displayed professionalism and composure of a player beyond his tender years, impressing with a save percentage of 73% and keeping 13 clean sheets on his way to a Grand Final win. How many players can say they were instrumental in the pursuit of silverware in their debut season? I’d wager not many, but Beach can.

Beach knocked Jamie Young off his City throne at the beginning of 2024/25 and played every minute of every game that season. Four saves and a clean sheet in his debut against Newcastle was a precursor for what was to come, two wonderful seasons in the A-League and a presence in the box that I, as a City fan, had not seen since Thomas Sörensen – last played in 2016/17 – was the first name on the team sheet.

Big call to make for some, but in my eyes, when you look at the rest of the names on that list: Dean Bouzanis, Eugene Galekovic, Tom Glover or Jamie Young, none come close to the safety of Beach when defending a corner or the shot-stopping ability on the worst of his days.

Now, Beach is playing in one of the top five leagues in the world, and looks up for the challenge, snagging the player of the match award in his second start against Lorient.

While Socceroos fans will be pleased with his progress, and hope that he continues this form and solidifies his spot in the national team for the next decade at least, the incredible rise of Beach will have lasting effects on young players looking to take their shot in the A-League and find a pathway into Europe. There will be plenty of eyes on the league after the World Cup, and if a young keeper is good enough to make their way into the team sheet, they may be good enough to gather some attention.

But what does this mean for Australian football? We’ve been blessed with some incredible goalkeepers over the years, but why would this change anything?

In my mind, it is not that Beach is revolutionising a nation which has had a long drought of top keepers, but reinvigorating a country which has plenty of raw talent for the most difficult position in football. Kids and teenagers across the country would have been in awe watching Beach tip the ball onto the post against Türkiye. One can only hope they’d think, “why can’t I do that?”

They can. And they will. As the old guard in Matthew Ryan reaches the twilight years in his career, the Socceroos will be looking for a goalkeeping union to back Beach up, and potentially fight for that number one shirt in the future. Paul Izzo is in his thirties now too, so who else? Who will step up? Who will be the next Beach to ruin the next generation of strikers’ days in the A-League and move on to the big time?