Melbourne City Football Club Youth is the youth system of Melbourne City Football Club based in Cranbourne East, Melbourne. The youth teams consist of an under-23s team that competes in senior levels of soccer in Victoria; currently the Victorian Premier League 1, and a development squad of an under-21s team that competes in the under-23 levels of soccer in Victoria.
| Full name | Melbourne City Football Club Youth | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | City Youth | ||
| Founded | 2011 | ||
| Ground | City Football Academy | ||
| Owner | City Football Group | ||
| Chairman | Khaldoon Al Mubarak | ||
| Youth Head Coach | Alessandro Diamanti | ||
| League | Victoria Premier League 1 A-League Youth | ||
| 2024 | 5th of 14 | ||
| Website | http://www.melbournecityfc.com.au | ||
| |||
Melbourne City Academy was introduced in 2016 and are composed of four academy teams, ranking from under-14s to under-17s teams that compete in the youth National Premier Leagues Victoria leagues.[1]
History
editEarly years (2011–2014)
editThe 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.[2]
Entry into National Premier Leagues (2014–2018)
editOn 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.[3] 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.[4]
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.[5]
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,[6] with the U-18 side being managed by Davey van 't Schip (the brother of former manager John van 't Schip).
Players
editYouth
editThese players can also play with the senior squad and compete in the A-League Youth and the VPL 1.
- As of 12 February 2025[7]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Under-21s
edit- As of 11 February 2025[8]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Current staff
editHead Coaches:
| Alessandro Diamanti | Youth Head Coach |
| Lewis Potter | U21 Head Coach |
| Daniel Topping | U17 Head Coach |
| Leroy Almenara | U16 Head Coach |
| Luke Johnson | U15 Head Coach |
| Frankie Barilla | U14 Head Coach |
Staff:
| Stuart McDonald | Youth Assistant Coach |
| Daniel Topping | U21 Assistant Coach |
| Daniel Cappellaro | U17–U16 Assistant Coach |
| Josh Sasic | U15–U14 Assistant Coach |
Honours
edit- Youth (Under-23s)
- A-League Youth Premiership
- A-League Youth Championship
- Victoria Premier League 2
- Runners-up (1): 2022
- Under-21s
- Victoria Premier League 1 U-23 Premiership
- Winners (1): 2023
- Victoria Premier League 1 U-23 Championship
- Winners (5): 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2023
- Runners-up (2): 2018, 2022
- Victoria Premier League 2 U-23 Premiership
- Runners-up (1): 2022
- Victoria Premier League 2 U-23 Championship
- Winners (1): 2022
Stadium
editThe 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
editA-League Youth
edit| 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
edit| 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 | 26 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 55 | 41 | +14 | 41 | 5th | Medin Memeti | 9 | |
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Season suspended after 14 matches due to COVID-19 pandemic.
References
edit- ^ "About Us". Melbourne City. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
- ^ "Heart too good for Victory". A-League Youth. Football Federation Australia. 5 December 2017.
- ^ "NEWS: Melbourne City FC NYL accepted into Victorian NPL". Melbourne City FC. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
- ^ "City commences 2016 National Premier Leagues (NPL) Season". Melbourne City FC. 25 February 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
- ^ "Melbourne City FC win Foxtel NYL title". Football Federation Australia. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
- ^ "City set sights on NPL with two new teams". melbournecityfc.com.au. 14 February 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
- ^ "Youth Team – VPL1 Seniors". Melbourne City FC. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
- ^ "Development Squad – VPL1 U23". Melbourne City FC. Retrieved 11 February 2025.