Adelaide United Football Club Youth is the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

of Adelaide United Football Club based in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, South Australia. The team players in the

National Premier Leagues The National Premier Leagues (NPL) is a national association football competition in Australia which acts as the second tier of the sport in the country below the A-League. The NPL consists of the highest level state league in each state-based ...

, the second level of Australia's soccer pyramid in Australia. The club also competes in the under-23s

A-League Youth A-League Youth, formerly known as the National Youth League and Y-League, is an Australian national soccer youth developmental and under-21s league, founded by Football Federation Australia and now run by the Australian Professional Leagues. ...

competition.

History

Early Years (2009–2014)

The team was founded in 2008, as an

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to fil ...

representative team for the inaugural season of the National Youth League competition. Former

Adelaide City Adelaide City Football Club is a soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The club was known historically as Juventus — the original name given to the club by its founders in Adelaide's Italian community. Adelaide City is one of Aust ...

player, Joe Mullen was appointed as head coach for Adelaide's inaugural youth squad. 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 Hindmarsh Stadium (currently known as Coopers Stadium due to sponsorship from Adelaide-based company Coopers Brewery) is a multi-purpose stadium in Hindmarsh, an inner western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is the home of the Austral ...

with Adelaide finishing runners-up into both the premiership and championship. 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. 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. 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 The National Premier Leagues South Australia (often abbreviated to NPL South Australia or NPL SA) is a semi-professional football competition in the Australian state of South Australia. The league is a subdivision of the second tier National Pre ...

and National Premier Leagues South Australia Reserves (U20) competitions for the PS4

2015 FFSA season The 2015 Football Federation South Australia season was the 109th season of soccer in South Australia, and the third under the National Premier Leagues format. League tables 2015 National Premier Leagues SA The National Premier League South A ...

entering in the State League 1, the second division of South Australian football. They gained automatic promotion in their first season to the

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 Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Their first match in Group A was against

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

with the result as a 4–0 victory. Then they lost 1–0 against

. 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. The Reds ended their 2015 Mediterranean International Cup, with a 4–0 loss against Malaga CF. On 11 January 2016, Adelaide United claimed their premiership in Conference A, with

Sydney FC Youth 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 ...

crowned Premiers for Conference B. The Grand Final was played at

Central Coast Stadium Central Coast Stadium (known originally as Grahame Park), known commercially as Industree Group Stadium is a sports venue in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. The stadium is home to the Central Coast Mariners asso ...

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

with them being 2016 National Youth League Champions. After their successful premiership in the State League 1, they moved on to the

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 North Eastern MetroStars Soccer Club, commonly known as MetroStars, is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1994, the club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues South Australi ...

by a 1–0 scoreline in the qualifying-finals.

Players

NPL/Reserves

Current staff

Honours

;NPL/Under-23s *

Y-League A-League Youth, formerly known as the National Youth League and Y-League, is an Australian national soccer youth developmental and under-21s league, founded by Football Federation Australia and now run by the Australian Professional Leagues. T ...

Premiership :Runners-up (1): 2008–09 *

Championship :Runners-up (2): 2009, 2016 *

South Australian State League 1 The NPL State League 1 South Australia is the second tier state-level football (soccer) competition in South Australia, ranked third tier in the national pyramid. The league are part of the National Premier Leagues (NPL) structure implemented ...

:Winners (1): 2015 ;Under-20s *

U-20 Premiership :Winners (2):

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

U-20 Premiership :Winners (1): 2015

References

External links

Official website
{{Navboxes, titlestyle=background:#D50032; color:yellow; {{box-shadow border, a, #002d5c, 1px , title = Other related articles , list = {{Y-League {{National Premier Leagues {{National Premier Leagues South Australia {{Association football in South Australia Adelaide United FC Soccer clubs in Adelaide National Premier Leagues clubs Association football clubs established in 2008 2008 establishments in Australia A-League National Youth League