Melbourne City FC Youth

Last updated

Melbourne City Youth
Full nameMelbourne City Football Club Youth
Nickname(s)City Youth
Founded2011;13 years ago (2011)
Ground Casey Fields
Parade College
Capacity9,000
2,000
Youth Manager Alessandro Diamanti
League A-League Youth
Victoria Premier League 1
Website Club 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.

Contents

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.NationPlayer
1 GK Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS James Nieuwenhuizen
3 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Jordon Hall
4 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Joshua Damevski
5 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Jordan Dellidis
6 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Justin Paolilli
8 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Emin Durakovic
9 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Arion Sulemani
11 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Patrick Hogan
12 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Harry Politidis
No.Pos.NationPlayer
15 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Max Caputo
17 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Sebastian Esposito
18 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Taylan Unal
20 GK Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Adrian Sinagra
21 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Benjamin Mazzeo
22 GK Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Luke Saunders
26 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  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.NationPlayer
19 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Kasra Karamad
24 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Alec Becvinovski
25 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Rhys Dufton
26 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Marcus Humbert
28 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Xavier Stella
29 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Peter Antoniou
30 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Joseph Pepe Myles
31 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Xavier Tasevski
33 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Luqman Hassani
34 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS John Kellis
35 GK Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Tyle Roche
36 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Luca Durso
No.Pos.NationPlayer
37 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Kavian Rahmani
38 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS James Rallis
39 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Sebastian Giannella
40 GK Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Luca Tasevski
44 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Tobenna Obani
45 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Harrison Shillington
46 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Ryan Kalms
47 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS James Georgiou
49 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Chris Petkaris
55 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Marc Petheriotis
77 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Zachary Cianci
90 GK Flag of Australia (converted).svg  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.NationPlayer
1 GK Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Lachlan Charles
3 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Jayden Necovski
4 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Lucas Green
5 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Sam Fawcett
6 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Joseph Pezzano
7 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Cade Segar
8 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Arthur Vlahos
9 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Stefan Mandic
10 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Lawrence Wong
11 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Ahmed Faraz
No.Pos.NationPlayer
12 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Ruben Da Silva
13 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Adrian Filardo
14 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Mikey Ghossaini
16 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Emilio Datario
17 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Medin Memeti
18 MF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Oliver Dragicevic
19 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Mikael Evagorou-Alao
19 DF Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Lewis Marinucci
20 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Jet Fittolani
21 GK Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Joaquin Fernandez

Current staff

Head Coaches:

Alessandro Diamanti Youth manager
Stuart McDonaldU21 Head Coach
Frankie BarillaU18 Head Coach
Lewis PotterU16 Head Coach
Matthew ConversanoU15 Head Coach
Leroy AlmenaraU14 Head Coach

Staff:

Agim SherifovskiAssistant coach (Youth–U21)
Ben MorellaGoalkeeping coach (Youth–U21)
Sakaria HersiAssistant coach (U18–U16)
Luke JohnsonHead 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

Season A-League Youth Grand Final Top scorer
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsPositionPlayer(s)Goals
League format
2011–12 188283537−2265thZac Walker7
2012–13 188193234−2256thJoshua Groenewald8
2013–14 188464030+10285thMarcus Schroen5
2014–15 1810534027+13351st Wade Dekker 9
Conference format
2015–16 83141823−5103rdDid not qualify Wade Dekker / Chris Cristaldo 4
2016–17 85121812+6161stChampions Yusuf Ahmed 5

Football Victoria

Season Football Victoria Top scorer
TLeaguePldWDLGFGAGDPtsPositionPlayer(s)Goals
2015 3 NPL Victoria 2 West 28135105645+11445th Wade Dekker 10
2016 28144107045+25463rd Chris Cristaldo 10
2017 NPL Victoria 2 East 2811896849+19413rdAustin Wong9
2018 28104146059+1346th Moudi Najjar 14
2019 2895146058+2327th ↓ Ramy Najjarine 13
2020 4 NPL Victoria 3 No matches played due to COVID-19 pandemic.
2021 148153719+18255th [lower-alpha 1] Max Caputo 12
2022 2215434313+30522nd ↑ Arion Sulemani 12
2023 3 NPL Victoria 2 26113125456−2369th Raphael Borges Rodrigues 7
2024 VPL 1

See also

Notes

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

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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.