Melbourne City Youth
Full nameMelbourne City Football Club Youth
Nickname(s)City Youth
Founded2011; 13 years ago (2011)
GroundCasey Fields
Parade College
Capacity9,000
2,000
Youth ManagerAlessandro Diamanti
LeagueA-League Youth
Victoria Premier League 1
WebsiteClub website

Melbourne City Football Club Youth is the youth system of Melbourne City Football Club based in Cranbourne East, Melbourne. The youth team plays in the NPL Victoria 2, the second tier of Victorian football in Australia and the hiatus A-League Youth competition. The club also fields under-21s, under-18s, and three other academy teams within the NPL Victoria system.

History

Early years (2011–2014)

The team was founded in 2011 as Melbourne Heart Youth, the season after their senior side Melbourne City (then known as Melbourne Heart FC), made their A-League debut. The inaugural manager was John Aloisi before he accepted the role as head manager at the end of the 2011–12 season. From 2012 onwards, Joe Palatsides had been the manager. The youth team's first match was played in the 2011–12 against local rivals Melbourne Victory in a 2–0 win at John Cain Memorial Park.[1]

Entry into National Premier Leagues (2014–2018)

On 7 November 2014, it was confirmed that Melbourne City would compete in the NPL Victoria 1 competition from the 2015 season onwards. The team consists mainly of Melbourne City's youth team, which also competes in the A-League Youth.[2] On top of this, Melbourne City opted to send a U-20 team to enter the concurrently-run development-level U-20 NPL league competition.[3]

The team finished on top of the table of the 2014–15 National Youth League, tied with Brisbane Roar FC Youth on both points and goal difference but were awarded the title having scored a greater number of goals.[4]

After several seasons competing in the NPL, Melbourne City announced they were expanding their participation to also enter teams into the U-18 and U-15 competitions. In February 2018, youth teams joined the National Premier Leagues for the under-20s and under-18s sides,[5] with the U-18 side being managed by Davey van 't Schip (the brother of former manager John van 't Schip).

Players

Youth current squad

These players can also play with the senior squad and compete in the A-League Youth and the VPL 1.

As of 9 December 2023[6]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Australia AUS James Nieuwenhuizen
3 DF Australia AUS Jordon Hall
4 DF Australia AUS Joshua Damevski
5 DF Australia AUS Jordan Dellidis
6 MF Australia AUS Justin Paolilli
8 MF Australia AUS Emin Durakovic
9 FW Australia AUS Arion Sulemani
11 FW Australia AUS Patrick Hogan
12 DF Australia AUS Harry Politidis
No. Pos. Nation Player
15 FW Australia AUS Max Caputo
17 DF Australia AUS Sebastian Esposito
18 FW Australia AUS Taylan Unal
20 GK Australia AUS Adrian Sinagra
21 FW Australia AUS Benjamin Mazzeo
22 GK Australia AUS Luke Saunders
26 MF Australia AUS Emile Peios

Under-21s current squad

As of 6 October 2023[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
19 FW Australia AUS Kasra Karamad
24 MF Australia AUS Alec Becvinovski
25 DF Australia AUS Rhys Dufton
26 MF Australia AUS Marcus Humbert
28 MF Australia AUS Xavier Stella
29 DF Australia AUS Peter Antoniou
30 MF Australia AUS Joseph Pepe Myles
31 DF Australia AUS Xavier Tasevski
33 FW Australia AUS Luqman Hassani
34 FW Australia AUS John Kellis
35 GK Australia AUS Tyle Roche
36 FW Australia AUS Luca Durso
No. Pos. Nation Player
37 MF Australia AUS Kavian Rahmani
38 DF Australia AUS James Rallis
39 DF Australia AUS Sebastian Giannella
40 GK Australia AUS Luca Tasevski
44 DF Australia AUS Tobenna Obani
45 DF Australia AUS Harrison Shillington
46 DF Australia AUS Ryan Kalms
47 MF Australia AUS James Georgiou
49 DF Australia AUS Chris Petkaris
55 FW Australia AUS Marc Petheriotis
77 FW Australia AUS Zachary Cianci
90 GK Australia AUS William Sparrow

Under-18s current squad

As of 6 October 2023[8]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Australia AUS Lachlan Charles
3 DF Australia AUS Jayden Necovski
4 DF Australia AUS Lucas Green
5 DF Australia AUS Sam Fawcett
6 MF Australia AUS Joseph Pezzano
7 MF Australia AUS Cade Segar
8 MF Australia AUS Arthur Vlahos
9 FW Australia AUS Stefan Mandic
10 MF Australia AUS Lawrence Wong
11 FW Australia AUS Ahmed Faraz
No. Pos. Nation Player
12 DF Australia AUS Ruben Da Silva
13 MF Australia AUS Adrian Filardo
14 FW Australia AUS Mikey Ghossaini
16 MF Australia AUS Emilio Datario
17 FW Australia AUS Medin Memeti
18 MF Australia AUS Oliver Dragicevic
19 DF Australia AUS Mikael Evagorou-Alao
19 DF Australia AUS Lewis Marinucci
20 FW Australia AUS Jet Fittolani
21 GK Australia AUS Joaquin Fernandez

Current staff

Head Coaches:

Alessandro Diamanti Youth manager
Stuart McDonald U21 Head Coach
Frankie Barilla U18 Head Coach
Lewis Potter U16 Head Coach
Matthew Conversano U15 Head Coach
Leroy Almenara U14 Head Coach

Staff:

Agim Sherifovski Assistant coach (Youth–U21)
Ben Morella Goalkeeping coach (Youth–U21)
Sakaria Hersi Assistant coach (U18–U16)
Luke Johnson Head coach (U15–U14)

Honours

Youth (Under-23s)
Under-21s
Under-18s

Stadium

The team hosts its home matches at CB Smith Reserve and Casey Fields. In previous years, home games have also been played at Epping Stadium, John Cain Memorial Park, John Ilhan Memorial Reserve and La Trobe University.

Team records

A-League Youth

Further information: Y-League
Season A-League Youth Grand Final Top scorer
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Position Player(s) Goals
League format
2011–12 18 8 2 8 35 37 −2 26 5th – Zac Walker 7
2012–13 18 8 1 9 32 34 −2 25 6th – Joshua Groenewald 8
2013–14 18 8 4 6 40 30 +10 28 5th – Marcus Schroen 5
2014–15 18 10 5 3 40 27 +13 35 1st – Wade Dekker 9
Conference format
2015–16 8 3 1 4 18 23 −5 10 3rd Did not qualify Wade Dekker / Chris Cristaldo 4
2016–17 8 5 1 2 18 12 +6 16 1st Champions Yusuf Ahmed 5

Football Victoria

Further information: Football Victoria
Season Football Victoria Top scorer
T League Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Position Player(s) Goals
2015 3 NPL Victoria 2 West 28 13 5 10 56 45 +11 44 5th Wade Dekker 10
2016 28 14 4 10 70 45 +25 46 3rd Chris Cristaldo 10
2017 NPL Victoria 2 East 28 11 8 9 68 49 +19 41 3rd Austin Wong 9
2018 28 10 4 14 60 59 +1 34 6th Moudi Najjar 14
2019 28 9 5 14 60 58 +2 32 7th ↓ Ramy Najjarine 13
2020 4 NPL Victoria 3 No matches played due to COVID-19 pandemic.
2021 14 8 1 5 37 19 +18 25 5th[a] Max Caputo 12
2022 22 15 4 3 43 13 +30 52 2nd ↑ Arion Sulemani 12
2023 3 NPL Victoria 2 26 11 3 12 54 56 −2 36 9th Raphael Borges Rodrigues 7
2024 VPL 1

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Season suspended after 14 matches due to COVID-19 pandemic.

References

  1. ^ "Heart too good for Victory". A-League Youth. Football Federation Australia. 5 December 2017.
  2. ^ "NEWS: Melbourne City FC NYL accepted into Victorian NPL". Melbourne City FC. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  3. ^ "City commences 2016 National Premier Leagues (NPL) Season". Melbourne City FC. 25 February 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Melbourne City FC win Foxtel NYL title". Football Federation Australia. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  5. ^ "City set sights on NPL with two new teams". melbournecityfc.com.au. 14 February 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  6. ^ "Under 23's (NPL) Squad". Melbourne City FC. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  7. ^ "Under 21's Squad". Melbourne City FC. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  8. ^ "Under 18's Squad". Melbourne City FC. Retrieved 18 February 2023.

External links

Melbourne City Football Club
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