Adelaide United Football Club Youth is the youth system of Adelaide United Football Club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The team players in the National Premier Leagues, the second level of Australia's soccer pyramid in Australia. The club also competes in the under-21s A-League Youth competition.

Adelaide United Youth
Full nameAdelaide United Football Club Youth
Nickname(s)Young Reds, Baby Reds
Founded2008; 16 years ago (2008)
GroundServiceFM Stadium
Capacity8,000 (1,000 seated)
CoordinatorEleni Vosnakis[1]
Youth coachAirton Andrioli
LeagueNPL South Australia
20246th of 12
Websitehttp://adelaideunited.com.au/

History

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Early Years (2009–2014)

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The team was founded in 2008, as an Adelaide United representative team for the inaugural season of the National Youth League competition. Former Adelaide City player, Joe Mullen was appointed as head coach for Adelaide's inaugural youth squad.[2] They finished 2nd to the qualification of the 2009 Grand Final against Sydney FC. The final result was a 2–0 loss at Hindmarsh Stadium with Adelaide finishing runners-up into both the premiership and championship.[3]

Adelaide's top-scorer for their first two seasons was Francesco Monterosso with the first season scoring 13 goals and with the second season scoring 17 goals.[4] This was the only back-to-back Golden Boot winner in the National Youth League.

Within the change of the NYL table format in the second National Youth League season, Adelaide United were still able to qualify for the NYL finals finishing 3rd. Adelaide United lost 1–0 to Perth Glory in the semi-final.[5]

In the 2010–11 season, in the race for the premiership, they finished 3rd again, followed by Central Coast Mariners Youth in 2nd with Gold Coast United Youth being the premiers for the season.

National Premier Leagues entry (2014–present)

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In October 2014, it was confirmed that the team would compete in the National Premier Leagues South Australia and National Premier Leagues South Australia Reserves (U20) competitions for the PS4 2015 FFSA season entering in the State League 1, the second division of South Australian football.[6][7]

They gained automatic promotion in their first season to the National Premier Leagues after finishing top of the table as well as the Reserves (U20s).

In October 2015, it was announced that AUFC Youth team were to compete in the 2015 Mediterranean International Cup in Barcelona, Spain. Their first match in Group A was against Los Angeles with the result as a 4–0 victory.[8] Then they lost 1–0 against Barcelona.[9] This was the first game for an Adelaide United side to face Barcelona. The final game was against Palamos CF in a 3–0 victory for Adelaide.

With the final game victory, Adelaide moved on to the Round of 16 against CF Lloret. Both teams could not be split, as the full-time score was 0–0. The game was decided in a penalty shoot-out, which Adelaide United won 5–4.[10] The Reds ended their 2015 Mediterranean International Cup, with a 4–0 loss against Malaga CF.[11]

On 11 January 2016, Adelaide United claimed their premiership in Conference A,[12] with Sydney FC Youth crowned Premiers for Conference B. The Grand Final was played at Central Coast Stadium with Sydney winning the grand final against Adelaide for the second season in a row between these two sides. The final result was 5–2 to Sydney FC Youth with them being 2016 National Youth League Champions.[13]

After their successful premiership in the State League 1, they moved on to the National Premier Leagues South Australia and finished 10th which was one spot away from relegating back to the State League. In 2017, they finished the same position as 2016, finishing 10th, and still avoiding relegation. As the two unsuccessful seasons were finished, Adelaide United Youth qualified for the NPL SA Finals Series for the first time and was defeated by North Eastern MetroStars by a 1–0 scoreline in the qualifying-finals.[14]

Players

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As of 28 August 2024[15]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
42 DF   AUS Henry Lynch
44 MF   AUS Ryan White
45 DF   AUS Jean-Paul Mbembe
48 DF   AUS Bae Versace
52 DF   AUS Sotiris Phillis
53   AUS Kevin Ban
54 DF   AUS Bailey O'Neil
56 FW   AUS Jake Porter
58 FW   AUS Harry Crawford
59 DF   AUS Cameron Harris
60 GK   AUS Oscar Page
61 MF   AUS Patrick McGregor
63 MF   AUS Giorgio Parhas
64 FW   AUS Brody Burkitt
No. Pos. Nation Player
65 MF   AUS Joey Garuccio
67 MF   AUS Luka Blazevic
68 FW   AUS James Carocci
70 GK   AUS Giorgos Coutsombes
71   AUS Vinko Stanisic
72 FW   AUS Mohammed Hassan
73   AUS David Kabazo
75 MF   AUS Fabian Grelli
76   AUS Matias Aloisi
77 FW   AUS Riley Stam
78 DF   AUS Malual Nichola
79 DF   AUS Feyzo Kasumovic
90 GK   AUS Noah Ellul

Current staff

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As of 25 November 2022[16]
  Airton Andrioli Head coach
  Elvis Markov Assistant coach
  Joe Verringer Goalkeeper coach
  Jonathan Norodom Physiotherapist
  William Mockridge Team manager

Honours

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National

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Runners-up (2): 2009, 2016
Runners-up (1): 2008–09

State

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Winners (1): 2023
Winners (1): 2015

Former youth team players to receive international recognition

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The following list of youth team have been capped in a full international. Players still currently playing for the club are in bold. Other still active players are in italics.

Former players

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This is a list of former Adelaide United Youth players, who have played at least 20 competitive matches for the first team.

As of 21 August 2024
Name Nationality Position Adelaide United career Appearances Goals
Ethan Alagich   Australia Midfielder 2021– 45 0
Lachlan Barr   Australia Defender 2022–24 39 3
Bernardo   Australia Midfielder 2021–2024 39 5
Giuseppe Bovalina   Australia Defender 2023–24 23 1
Lachlan Brook   Australia Forward 2017–20, 2022 29 1
Louis D'Arrigo   Australia Midfielder 2018–23 106 5
Jordan Elsey   Australia Defender 2013–21 141 6
Ben Garuccio   Australia Defender 2016–18 60 1
Nestor Irankunda   Australia Forward 2022–24 61 16
Paul Izzo   Australia Goalkeeper 2011–15, 2017–20 99 0
Luka Jovanovic   Australia Forward 2022– 36 8
Bruce Kamau   Australia Forward 2014–16 32 3
Ryan Kitto   Australia Defender 2013–15, 2016– 208 17
Nathan Konstandopoulos   Australia Midfielder 2014–16, 2017–21, 2022 77 7
Awer Mabil   Australia Forward 2012–15 52 9
Panashe Madanha   Australia Defender 2022– 20 0
Osama Malik   Australia Midfielder 2008–09, 2011–16 111 2
Michael Marrone   Australia Defender 2008–10, 2014–21 193 4
Riley McGree   Australia Midfielder 2016–17, 2019–20 51 15
Nikola Mileusnic   Australia Forward 2016–20 103 19
Pacifique Niyongabire   Burundi Forward 2018–21 24 1
Mark Ochieng   Australia Forward 2014–18 35 2
Jordan O'Doherty   Australia Midfielder 2016–18 36 2
Alexandar Popovic   Australia Defender 2022–24 45 2
Ryan Strain   Australia Defender 2017–21 90 0
Al Hassan Toure   Australia Forward 2019–21 36 7
Mohamed Toure   Australia Forward 2020–22 42 7
Ben Warland   Australia Defender 2014–17, 2022–24 50 3
Kusini Yengi   Australia Forward 2020–22 28 6
Jonny Yull   Australia Midfielder 2021– 30 0
  • Bold denotes players still playing in Adelaide United

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "2023 MEDIA GUIDE" (PDF). Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  2. ^ "Mullen appointed to coach inaugural Youth squad". Y-League. 2 May 2008.
  3. ^ "Sydney Youth take title". Y-League. 22 February 2009.
  4. ^ "National Youth League Player Stats – after Round 27". Y-League. 10 March 2010.
  5. ^ "Perth into Grand Final". Y-League. 15 March 2010.
  6. ^ "Reds reserve team gets green light". a-league.com.au. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  7. ^ "Reds confirm NPL participation". Y-League. 9 December 2014.
  8. ^ "Young Reds win first game in MIC Tournament". Adelaide United. 2 April 2015.
  9. ^ "Young Reds push Barcelona in International Cup". Y-League. 2 April 2015.
  10. ^ "Young Reds progress to MIC quarters". Adelaide United. 2 April 2015.
  11. ^ "Young Reds exits MIC after Malaga defeat". Adelaide United. 2 April 2015.
  12. ^ "Young Reds claim NYL Conference A Premiership". Y-League. 11 January 2016.
  13. ^ "Sky Blues crowned Foxtel NYL Champions". Y-League. 23 January 2017.
  14. ^ "MetroStars 1–0 Adelaide United Youth". Soccerway. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  15. ^ "NPL Squad". Adelaide United. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  16. ^ "Management and Staff". Adelaide United.
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