Australia's governing football body was on the verge of bankruptcy.
Two decades later its women's team would capture the hearts of the nation during one of the best attended world cup tournaments in history.
Soccer Australia, a precursor to Football Australia, was in dire straits during the early 2000s.
The men's national team failed to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup as factional fighting and backroom deals ran rife within the organisation.
Cabinet records from 2003, released on Monday by the National Archives of Australia, revealed the governing body's books were in bad shape.
"Soccer Australia is facing significant financial difficulties and is likely to go into voluntary administration unless it receives financial assistance from the Australian government," the records read.
The results of an independent inquiry into what was labelled "Australia's worst-run sport" were released earlier that year.
The Crawford Report called for a massive overhaul by standing down the Soccer Australia board and replacing it with an interim board led by businessman Frank Lowy and establishing an independent commission to run the national soccer league.
The 2003 cabinet records show then-sport minister Rod Kemp discussed the financials with Mr Lowy.
They floated the possibility of providing $9 million over three years alongside an up-front loan of $6 million as the interim board proposed another body be established to replace Soccer Australia.
The rescue package came in September of that year as Soccer Australia was liquidated to make way for the newly created Australian Soccer Associated Limited, which Mr Lowy hoped would rebuild the sport with a "clean sheet".
The association would later change its name to Football Federation Australia before settling on Football Australia in 2020.
From 2005 onwards, things began to look up for Australian soccer fans.
The men's team qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup with its "golden generation" of players.
Tim Cahill, John Aloisi, Harry Kewell, Mark Schwarzer and Mark Bresciano headlined a team ranked second-lowest in the tournament but took Australia to the round of 16.
The miraculous run ended when they conceded a controversial penalty in the 92nd minute to eventual victors Italy.
In 2022, the Socceroos impressed again as the team made a resurgence with upsets over Tunisia and Denmark that led them to a round of 16 face-off against Lionel Messi's Argentinian side, who would go on to win the tournament.
Less than a year later, the Matildas united the nation during a legendary world cup jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
Sam Kerr, Mary Fowler, Caitlin Foord, Mackenzie Arnold, Ellie Carpenter, Hayley Raso and Alanna Kennedy became household names as Australians watched them take on heavyweight countries and land in the semi-finals in the highest finish of any Australian soccer team.
