Sydney FC Youth

Sydney FC Youth

Full name	Sydney Football Club Youth
Nickname(s)	Sky Blues
Founded	2008
Ground	Lambert Park (Y-League) Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre (NPL)
Chairman	Scott Barlow
Youth Manager	Jim van Weeren
League	Y-League National Premier Leagues NSW
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Sydney Football Club Youth is the youth system of Sydney Football Club based in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia. The team referred to as Sydney Youth play in the Y-League (November to February) and consists of u23 players, the highest level of youth soccer in Australia. The club also competes in the National Premier Leagues NSW (March to August), the top competition of Football in NSW, however this team is known as Sydney U21, and is not to be confused with Sydney Youth which is a completely different team, involving different team selection and age group.

The youth setup also features under-20s and under-18s teams that both play in the National Premier Leagues NSW in their age group.

Youth team history

Early years (2008–2009)

The youth team was founded in 2008, as a Sydney FC representative team for the National Youth League (NYL) competition. The team consisted of twelve contracted youth positions with four overage players (from the senior squad) allowed to participate in games. The side had initially contracted Football Superstar winner, Adam Hett, but had to be replaced for the campaign due to a season ending knee injury. ^[1] In its first season Sydney FC Youth won the 2008–09 NYL Championship, with former Socceroo & NSL stalwart, Steve O'Connor as the coach. Throughout the season the side dominated many games and finished the regular season on top of the ladder with 13 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses and 6 points clear of second-placed Adelaide United Youth. The pair then went straight to a Grand Final match, of which Sydney FC Youth emphatically took out the tournament with a 2–0 victory at Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide. ^[2] The goalscorers were Ibrahim Haydar and Robbie Mileski. Many of the Sydney FC Youth players in the Grand Final went on to have success for the senior squad or found a home elsewhere. They included Vedran Janjetovic, Rhyan Grant, Matt Jurman, Antony Golec and Brendan Gan. Sydney FC Youth were unable to follow it up the following year, finishing fifth on the ladder and missing out on the finals series due to goal difference (behind Gold Coast United FC Youth, who went on to win the Championship).

Managers success (2009–2015)

After the second season, club legend Steve Corica replaced Steve O'Connor as head coach. The team had mixed success finishing fourth on the standings with 30 points behind Gold Coast United FC Youth on 41 points. The competition did not have a finals series for the first time. A few players from this cohort went on to play for the first team, including Dimitri Petratos, Nathan Sherlock, Joel Chianese and Blake Powell. ^[3] To take up a more senior assistant role with the first team, Corica relinquished the head coach position for the 2011–12 season. He was replaced by Ian Crook. Again Sydney FC Youth were mid-table, finishing sixth. Crook himself went on to bigger things the following year, taking over head coach duties for the first team. Brian Dene came in as coach of the Youth team. The season became Sydney FC Youth's worst performance in the team's five-year history, finishing ninth. With the first team also struggling with performance and injuries, many of the Youth team played up in the first's team, which did not help the cause. Some of these players included Christopher Naumoff, Hagi Gligor, Peter Triantis and Aaron Calver. ^[4] Steve Corica then returned as head coach for Sydney FC Youth with immediate success. The side won the Foxtel National Youth League Championship for the 2013–14 season. Unable to repeat this performance the following year, Corica again relinquished his duties as head coach to focus on his role within the senior squad.

Entry into National Premier Leagues (2014–present)

In early 2015, it was confirmed that Sydney FC would compete in the NPL NSW 2 competition from the 2016 season onwards. ^[5] This followed a competition review by Football NSW that recommended the youth teams of Sydney FC, Western Sydney Wanderers and Central Coast Mariners join the National Premier Leagues. Along with a team playing first grade, an under-20 and under-18 team would also compete in their appropriate age groups. The team forms the top level of the Sydney FC academy, unveiled in January 2016. ^[6] Rob Stanton took over the reins as head coach due to the heavily increased workload of the new competition. ^{[7] [8]} In the new National Youth League format with a shortened season, Sydney FC Youth started out of the block early recording three consecutive wins. Through the ten round campaign, the team lost only two games, both against Newcastle Jets Youth. The team sat two points clear of Newcastle to end the regular season in first place for Conference B. As Conference B winners, Sydney FC Youth played Adelaide United Youth for the premiership in a curtain raiser to A-League Round 16 match between Central Coast Mariners and Western Sydney Wanderers on 23 January 2016. Sydney FC Youth were convincing winners, taking out the premiership with a scoreline of 5–2.

Many influential faces returned for the debut of the team in the National Premier Leagues setup for Sydney U21. These included, Spyrakis, Timotheou, Araujo, Burgess, Lokolingoy and Antoniou. Notable exceptions included Anthony Bouzanis, Aaron Calver and George Blackwood as they had also signed senior contracts and were ineligible for the tournament. The team's debut match did not go according to plan, losing to Mounties FC 2–0 at home (Lambert Park). ^[9] The side then went on a thrilling ten-game winning streak, that included some big wins (7–0 against Macarthur Rams ^[10] and 7–4 against Bankstown Berries). ^[11] The streak ended in somewhat unfortunate circumstances against Marconi Stallions as Sydney FC U21, after leading 1–0, allowed in two goals in last five minutes of the Round 12 clash to lose 2–1. The following game saw another defeat for the Sky Blues, suffering defeat in the "mini derby" against rivals Western Sydney Wanderers U21. A win, then a draw to Mounties FC in the Round 14 make-up game, then two more losses, meant Sydney FC U21 only picked up four points out of a possible 24, with title hopes looking shaky. However, Sydney FC U21 would get back on track with wins against Bankstown City Lions FC and St George FC. Sydney FC U21 remained undefeated in the final four rounds of the regular season to win the Premiers Plate, two points ahead of Western Sydney Wanderers U21. In fact, the final day was a very tense affair, as the two clubs were matched up against each other. The Wanderers, who were trailing by 3 points and −10 points differential needed a very large win to leap-frog the Sky Blues. However, the sides played out a 4–all draw at Popondetta Park and Sydney FC U21 were declared premiers.

Under-23s current squad

These players can also play with the senior squad and are all Young Professionals.

As of June 2023

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   AUS Harry Aquilina 2 DF   AUS Cameron Fong 3 MF   AUS Dejan Bakrdanikoski 5 DF   AUS Jacob Mclachlan 6 MF   AUS Matthew Scarcella 7 MF   AUS Ben Gibson 8 MF   AUS Will Kennedy 9 FW   AUS Luka Smyth 10 FW   AUS Alen Harbas 12   AUS Bailey Jacobs 13 DF   AUS Hayden Matthews 14 FW   AUS Ayouk Mow 15 FW   AUS Brae Ovens 17 DF   AUS Jayden Trenkoski 19 FW   AUS Adrian Segecic

No. Pos. Nation Player 21   AUS Louis Agosti 21   AUS Morrie Kamara 23   AUS Sebastian Kiceec 24 FW   AUS Alex Parsons 25 FW   AUS Jaiden Kucharski 27 DF   AUS Zachary De Jesus 28 MF   AUS Jake Girdwood-Reich 29 DF   AUS Aaron Gurd 30 GK   AUS Adam Pavlesic 34   AUS Max Buratto 35 FW   AUS Tiago Quintal 37   AUS Bailey Callaghan 39   AUS Oscar Gultekin —   AUS Kai Kamikura —   AUS Dylan Rose — MF   IDN Eizar Tanjung — MF   IDN Zinadein Ardiansyah — MF   VIE Tung Dang

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 GK   AUS Max Vartuli(On loan to AaB Fodbold until June 30 2025) — FW   AUS Alen Harbas(on loan to Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat until December 30 2025)

Under-20s current squad

These players can also play with the senior squad and the Under-23s.

Second years

As of 15 March 2020 ^[12]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 MF   AUS Cameron Fong 12 DF   AUS Fletcher McFarlane 16 FW   AUS Olayinka Sunmola 20 GK   AUS Levi Kaye 22 DF   AUS Mitchell Mattison 23 DF   AUS Nathan Grimaldi 27 FW   AUS Antonio Saracino

No. Pos. Nation Player 29 DF   AUS Rocco Fragale 30 GK   AUS David Malishev 42 DF   AUS Aidan Simmons 43 MF   AUS Stevan Stanic-Floody 44 DF   AUS Joseph Roddy 54 MF   AUS Nikola Skataric 69 MF   AUS Joseph Calusic

First years

As of 15 March 2020

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 Aidan Simmons 45 MF   AUS Phillip Gigliotti 46 FW   AUS Kai Kamikura 47 MF   AUS Hunter Elliott 48 DF   AUS Aleksandar Duricic 49 FW   AUS Lachlan Mills 50 GK   AUS Matteo Scali 51 DF   AUS Nathan Paull

No. Pos. Nation Player 53 FW   AUS Andrew Vlahadamis 54 MF   AUS Nikola Skataric 55 DF   AUS Aiden Mostofi 58 MF   AUS Jake Girdwood-Reich 60 GK   AUS Beau Ward 62 FW   AUS Oliver Burden 68 MF   AUS Adrian Segecic 69 MF   AUS Joseph Calusic

Schoolboys

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

No. Pos. Nation Player —   AUS Adrian Pini —   AUS Adrian Segecic —   AUS Aiden Mostofi —   AUS Beau Ward —   AUS Brae Ovens —   AUS Carter Foxe —   AUS Chris Niblock — 13   AUS Clayton Taylor —   AUS Connor Stamatis —   AUS Daniel Rasera —   AUS Federico Gagliano —   AUS Gregory John

No. Pos. Nation Player —   AUS Jake Girdwood-Reich —   AUS Joseph Clausic —   AUS Kyle Reilly Shaw —   AUS Luke Nieuwenhof —   AUS Max Vartuli —   AUS Morrie Kamara —   AUS Oliver Burden —   AUS Paolo Pusateri —   AUS Ramiro Soto —   AUS Rawley St John —   AUS Rick Aguilar —   AUS Steven Kriezis

Stadium

The team's home grounds for NYL matches are Leichhardt Oval and Netstrata Jubilee Stadium. ^[13] The team’s two home ground is Valentine Sports Park in the suburb of Glenwood and Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre for NPL matches. The teams also shares Sydney FC's club's training base at Macquarie University in North Ryde. Also the team’s previous play out Lambert Park in the suburb of Leichhardt for NPL matches.

Club officials

Current staff

As of 4 July 2019

	Head Coach	Assistant
Youth	Jim van Weeren	Howard Fondyke
Under 20s	Shane Smeltz
Technical Director – Youth	Kelly Cross

First team coaches (NPL/NYL)

Name	Period	Seasons	Honours
Steve O'Connor	2008–2010	2 Y-League	2008–09 NYL Premiers and Champions
Steve Corica	2010–2011	1 Y-League
Ian Crook	2011–2012	1 Y-League
Brian Dene	2012–2013	1 Y-League
Steve Corica	2013–2015	2 Y-League	2013–14 NYL Champions
Robert Stanton	2015–2018	3 Y-League, 2 NPL	2015–16 NYL Premiers and Champions 2016 NPL NSW 2 Premiers and Champions 2016–17 NYL Premiers
Giancarlo Italiano	2018–2019	1 Y-League
Jim Van Weeren	2019–present	1 NPL

Seasons

As of 30 December 2020

Season	NYL / NPL NSW											International	Top scorer 1		POTY	Rising
	Div	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Position	Finals		Player(s)	Goals
2008–09	NYL	18	13	2	3	43	22	+21	41	1st	W		Sean Rooney	9
2009–10	NYL	24	11	6	7	43	33	+10	39	5th	–		Kerem Bulut	13
2010–11	NYL	20	9	3	8	36	31	+5	30	4th	N/A		Kofi Danning	8
2011–12	NYL	18	7	4	7	40	31	+9	25	6th	N/A		Mitchell Mallia	14	Hagi Gligor
2012–13	NYL	18	6	3	9	41	46	-5	21	9th	N/A	3rd	Alec Urosevski	12	Peter Triantis
2013–14	NYL	18	13	2	3	49	29	+20	41	1st	N/A	2nd	Mitchell Mallia	13	Chris Naumoff
2014–15	NYL	18	8	4	6	40	27	+13	28	4th	N/A	5th	George Blackwood	6	George Blackwood
2015–16	NYL	8	6	0	2	21	11	+10	18	1st	W		Max Burgess	4	Daniel Araujo
	NPL2	26	16	3	7	84	41	+43	51	1st	W		Charles Lokolingoy	27 [14]
2016–17	NYL	8	5	1	2	23	15	+8	16	1st	RU		Charles Lokolingoy	6	Andrea Agamemnos
	NPL1	22	6	2	14	34	52	-18	14 [lower-alpha 1]	11th	—		Charles Lokolingoy	7 [15]
2017–18	NYL	8	5	2	1	18	9	+9	17	2nd	—		Jeremy Cox	6	Jeremy Cox	Marco Tilio
	NPL1	22	4	4	14	27	47	-20	16	12th	—		Jeremy Cox	10 [16]
2018–19	NYL	8	5	0	3	15	8	+7	15	2nd	—		Marco Tilio	4	Luke Ivanovic	Ryan Teague
	NPL1	22	6	3	13	33	52	-19	21	11th	—		Benjamin Koop	8 [17]
2019–20	NYL	8	5	3	0	37	15	+22	18	1st	W		Marco Tilio	9 [18]	Joel King	Adam Pavlesic
	NPL1	11	6	1	4	26	19	+7	19	5th	—		Patrick Wood	11 [19]
2021	NPL1	17 [lower-alpha 2]	3	5	9	29	44	–15	14	12th	—		Adrian Segecic	4 [20]	Patrick Wood	Adrian Segecic
2022	NPL1	22	8	8	6	53	45	+8	32	7th	—		Jaiden Kucharski	18 [21]	Patrick Yazbek	Jake Girdwood-Reich

¹ Top scorer only includes goals scored from league matches (National Youth League and NYL Finals or National Premier Leagues).

1. Deducted six points for misconduct
2. The season was cancelled on 12 August 2021 with five games remaining in the regular season

Honours

Domestic

Youth

• NSW NPL 2/NSW League One Premiership
  • Premiers (1): 2016
• NSW NPL 2/NSW League One Championship
  • Champions (1): 2016

• Y-League/A-League Youth Premiership
  • Winners (4): 2008–09, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2019–20
  • Runners-up (2): 2017–18, 2018–19
• Y-League/A-League Youth Championship
  • Winners (2): 2008–09, 2015–16, 2019–20
  • Runners-up (1): 2016–17

Academy

• National Premier Leagues NSW U-20 Premiership
  • Runners-up (1): 2018
• National Premier Leagues NSW U-20 Championship
  • Winners (1): 2016
  • Runners-up (1): 2018
• National Premier Leagues NSW 2 U-20 Premiership
  • Winners (1): 2016
• National Premier Leagues NSW U-18 Premiership
  • Winners (2): 2017, 2018
• National Premier Leagues NSW 2 U-18 Premiership
  • Runners-up (1): 2016
• National Premier Leagues NSW U-18 Championship
  • Winners (2): 2017, 2018
  • Runners-up (1): 2016

International

Youth

• International U-21 Thanh Niên Newspaper Cup
  • Runners-Up (1): 2013
  • Third-place (1): 2012
• Free Trade Port trophy
  • Winners (1): 2018 ^[22] (representing Team Australia along with Newcastle Jets)

Under-20s

• Future Cup (U-17 Tournament)
  • Fifth Place (1): 2018 ^[23]

Other

Youth

• NPL Fair Play Award (3): 2017, 2019, 2019

Individual

• NPL First team Player of the Year: Jaiden Kucharski (2022) ^[24]
• NPL U-20's Player of the Year: Luka Smyth (2022) ^[24]

See also

• Sydney FC

References

1. "Sydney set for start of Youth League". www.sydneyfc.com. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
2. "Junior Sky Blues take Youth League title" . Retrieved 5 September 2016.
3. "Sydney FC unveils its new look youth team" . Retrieved 5 September 2016.
4. "Sydney FC name young Youth squad" . Retrieved 5 September 2016.
5. "Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers take rivalry to new level with plans for youth academies". smh.com.au. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
6. "Sydney FC Academy Expression of Interest". SydneyFC.com. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
7. "Sydney FC appoint new National Youth League head coach". Johnny Warren Football Foundation. 6 July 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
8. "Sydney FC appoint National Youth League head coach". www.sydneyfc.com. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
9. "PS4 NPL 2 NSW Round 1 Review" . Retrieved 5 September 2016.
10. "Round 7 Review – PS4 NPL 2 NSW Men's". www.footballnsw.com.au. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
11. "Round 8 Review – PS4 NPL 2 NSW Men's". www.footballnsw.com.au. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
12. "Sydney FC — U20 NPL NSW Men's 2020". SportsTG.
13. "Foxtel Y-League 2019/20 Season Draw" (PDF). Football Federation Australia. 25 October 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
14. SportsTG. "Sydney FC statistics 2016" . Retrieved 6 August 2017.
15. SportsTG. "Sydney FC statistics 2017" . Retrieved 13 February 2018.
16. SportsTG. "Sydney FC statistics 2018" . Retrieved 10 January 2019.
17. SportsTG. "Sydney FC statistics 2019" . Retrieved 7 October 2019.
18. Football Federation Australia. "Y-League Fixtures and Results" . Retrieved 24 December 2019.
19. "2020 NPL Sydney FC statistics". sportstg.com. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
20. "2021 NPL Sydney FC statistics". websites.mygameday.app. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
21. "2022 Top goalscorers". footballnsw. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
22. Swibel, Michael (9 July 2018). "Young Sydney FC go down to star studded Shanghai". Sydney FC. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
23. Van Weeren, Jimmy (3 April 2018). "2018 Future Cup Run". Sydney FC. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
24. "Kucharski and Badawiya claim top NPL New South Wales honours". nationalpremierleagues.com.au. 19 September 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2023.

External links

• Official website