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.

Quick Facts Full name, Nickname(s) ...
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/
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History

Early Years (2009–2014)

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)

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

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.

More information No., Pos. ...
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Current staff

As of 25 November 2022[16]
Brazil Airton AndrioliHead coach
Australia Elvis MarkovAssistant coach
Australia Joe VerringerGoalkeeper coach
Australia Jonathan NorodomPhysiotherapist
Australia William MockridgeTeam manager

Honours

National

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

State

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

Former youth team players to receive international recognition

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

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
More information Name, Nationality ...
NameNationalityPositionAdelaide United careerAppearancesGoals
Ethan Alagich AustraliaMidfielder2021–450
Lachlan Barr AustraliaDefender2022–24393
Bernardo AustraliaMidfielder2021–2024395
Giuseppe Bovalina AustraliaDefender2023–24231
Lachlan Brook AustraliaForward2017–20, 2022291
Louis D'Arrigo AustraliaMidfielder2018–231065
Jordan Elsey AustraliaDefender2013–211416
Ben Garuccio AustraliaDefender2016–18601
Nestor Irankunda AustraliaForward2022–246116
Paul Izzo AustraliaGoalkeeper2011–15, 2017–20990
Luka Jovanovic AustraliaForward2022–368
Bruce Kamau AustraliaForward2014–16323
Ryan Kitto AustraliaDefender2013–15, 2016–20817
Nathan Konstandopoulos AustraliaMidfielder2014–16, 2017–21, 2022777
Awer Mabil AustraliaForward2012–15529
Panashe Madanha AustraliaDefender2022–200
Osama Malik AustraliaMidfielder2008–09, 2011–161112
Michael Marrone AustraliaDefender2008–10, 2014–211934
Riley McGree AustraliaMidfielder2016–17, 2019–205115
Nikola Mileusnic AustraliaForward2016–2010319
Pacifique Niyongabire BurundiForward2018–21241
Mark Ochieng AustraliaForward2014–18352
Jordan O'Doherty AustraliaMidfielder2016–18362
Alexandar Popovic AustraliaDefender2022–24452
Ryan Strain AustraliaDefender2017–21900
Al Hassan Toure AustraliaForward2019–21367
Mohamed Toure AustraliaForward2020–22427
Ben Warland AustraliaDefender2014–17, 2022–24503
Kusini Yengi AustraliaForward2020–22286
Jonny Yull AustraliaMidfielder2021–300
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  • Bold denotes players still playing in Adelaide United

See also

References

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