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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 Victoria Premier League 1, 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.
| Full name | Melbourne City Football Club Youth | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | City Youth | |||
| Founded | 2011 | |||
| Ground | City Football Academy | |||
| Youth Head Coach | Alessandro Diamanti | |||
| League | Victoria Premier League 1 A-League Youth | |||
| 2024 | 5th of 14 | |||
| Website | http://www.melbournecityfc.com.au | |||
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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).
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Youth
These players can also play with the senior squad and compete in the A-League Youth and the VPL 1.
- As of 15 August 2024[6]
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
- As of 15 August 2024[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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Head Coaches:
| Alessandro Diamanti | Youth Head Coach |
| Lewis Potter | U21 Head Coach |
| Frankie Barilla | U18 Head Coach |
| Leroy Almenara | U16 Head Coach |
| Matthew Conversano | U15 Head Coach |
| Peter Kofinas | U14 Head Coach |
Staff:
| Stuart McDonald | Youth Assistant Coach |
| Frankie Barilla | U21 Assistant Coach |
| Luke Johnson | U18–U16 Assistant Coach |
| Sakaria Hersi | U15–U14 Assistant Coach |
- 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
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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.
A-League Youth
| 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
| 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 | |
- Season suspended after 14 matches due to COVID-19 pandemic.
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