Sydney FC Youth

Sydney Football Club Youth

Company type	Youth football academy
Industry	Sports
Founded	2008
Headquarters	Moore Park, Sydney , Australia
Area served	Australia
Products	Youth football teams (Under-23, Under-21, Under-20, Under-18)
Parent	Sydney Football Club

Sydney Football Club Youth serves as the youth system for Sydney Football Club, located in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia. Commonly referred to as Sydney Youth, this squad competes in the Y-League from November through February, featuring players under 23 years old and representing the pinnacle of youth soccer competition in Australia. In addition, the club operates a Sydney U21 side within the National Premier Leagues NSW (March to August), which is distinct from Sydney Youth regarding player selection and age category.

The youth program also encompasses under-20 and under-18 teams that participate in their respective divisions within the National Premier Leagues NSW.

Founding period (2008–2009)

Established in 2008 as Sydney FC’s entrant in the National Youth League (NYL), the squad consisted of twelve contracted youth players supplemented by four senior squad members eligible due to age regulations. Initially included was Football Superstar champion Adam Hett, who was later replaced after sustaining a season-ending knee injury. During its debut season, under coach Steve O'Connor, Sydney FC Youth clinched the 2008–09 NYL Championship. The team excelled throughout the regular season, recording 13 victories, 2 draws, and 3 defeats, finishing six points clear of second-place Adelaide United Youth. They secured the championship with a 2–0 win in the Grand Final held at Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, with goals from Ibrahim Haydar and Robbie Mileski. Multiple players from this squad advanced to Sydney FC’s senior ranks or other professional teams, including Vedran Janjetovic, Rhyan Grant, Matt Jurman, Antony Golec, and Brendan Gan. In the subsequent season, Sydney FC Youth ended fifth, narrowly missing finals qualification on goal difference behind eventual champions Gold Coast United FC Youth.

Coaching achievements (2009–2015)

Following the second campaign, club icon Steve Corica succeeded Steve O'Connor as head coach. The team concluded the season in fourth place with 30 points, trailing Gold Coast United FC Youth who amassed 41 points during a year without a finals series. Several players from this roster—including Dimitri Petratos, Nathan Sherlock, Joel Chianese, and Blake Powell—progressed to the senior squad. Corica transitioned to an assistant coaching position with the first team for the 2011–12 season and was replaced by Ian Crook, under whom the youth side finished sixth. Crook later assumed head coach duties for the senior team, prompting Brian Dene to take charge of the youth squad during their poorest performance, finishing ninth. Due to injuries and challenges faced by the senior team, numerous youth players such as Christopher Naumoff, Hagi Gligor, Peter Triantis, and Aaron Calver were accelerated into first-team roles. Corica returned to lead the youth side once more, guiding them to victory in the Foxtel National Youth League Championship for the 2013–14 season before stepping down again to concentrate on senior team responsibilities.

Participation in National Premier Leagues (2014–present)

In early 2015, Sydney FC announced their inclusion in the NPL NSW 2 competition commencing in 2016, following a Football NSW assessment that recommended youth squads from Sydney FC, Western Sydney Wanderers, and Central Coast Mariners join the National Premier Leagues framework. Alongside the senior team, under-20 and under-18 teams also compete within their respective divisions. This setup represents the highest level within the Sydney FC academy, which was officially launched in January 2016. Due to the heightened competitive environment, Rob Stanton was appointed as head coach.

During the abbreviated 2015–16 National Youth League season, Sydney FC Youth began impressively with three successive victories and secured first place in Conference B, suffering only two defeats against Newcastle Jets Youth. They clinched the premiership title by overcoming Adelaide United Youth 5–2 in a match held as a preliminary event to an A-League fixture.

For Sydney U21’s inaugural NPL season, key returning players included Spyrakis, Timotheou, Araujo, Burgess, Lokolingoy, and Antoniou; however, Anthony Bouzanis, Aaron Calver, and George Blackwood were unavailable due to commitments with the senior squad. The debut encounter resulted in a 2–0 home defeat to Mounties FC but was succeeded by a ten-match winning run highlighted by decisive wins such as 7–0 against Macarthur Rams and 7–4 versus Bankstown Berries. The winning streak concluded with a late concession leading to a 2–1 loss to Marconi Stallions. Inconsistent performances followed, casting doubt on championship ambitions until strong victories over Bankstown City Lions FC and St George FC enabled Sydney FC U21 to secure the Premiers Plate by a two-point margin ahead of Western Sydney Wanderers U21. A final day 4–4 draw against their rivals ensured Sydney FC U21 retained the premiership despite Wanderers’ attempts to surpass them on goal difference.

Under-23s current squad

The following players are Young Professionals eligible for selection with the senior team.

Out on loan

(currently loaned to Finland’s Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat until December 2025)

Under-20s current squad

Players listed here are eligible to play for both the senior team and Under-23 squads.

Stadium

Sydney FC Youth's National Youth League home fixtures are hosted at Leichhardt Oval and Netstrata Jubilee Stadium. For National Premier Leagues matches, home games take place at Valentine Sports Park in Glenwood and Bicentennial Park South (Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre). The club shares its training facilities with Sydney FC at Macquarie University located in North Ryde. Previously, NPL fixtures were held at Lambert Park.

Current staff

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

First team coaches (NPL/NYL)

Name	Tenure	Seasons	Achievements
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

Season	NYL / NPL NSW											International	Leading scorer1		POTY	Rising
	Div	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Final standing	Playoffs		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
2016–17	NYL	8	5	1	2	23	15	+8	16	1st	RU		Charles Lokolingoy	6	Andrea Agamemnos
	NPL1	22	6	2	14	34	-18 14 11th — Charles Lokolingoy 7
2017–18	NYL	8 5 2 1 18 9 +9 17 bgcolor=silver 2nd — Jeremy Cox 6	Jeremy Cox	Marco Tilio
	NPL1	22 4 4 14 27 47 -20 16 12th — Jeremy Cox 10
2018–19	NYL	8 5 0 3 15 8 +7 15 bgcolor=silver 2nd — Marco Tilio 4	Luke Ivanovic	Ryan Teague
	NPL1	22 6 3 13 33 52 -19 21 11th — Benjamin Koop 8
2019–20	NYL	8 5 3 0 37 15 +22 18 bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=gold W Marco Tilio 9	Joel King	rowspan=2 |Adam Pavlesic
	NPL1	11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 26 | 19 | +7 | 19 | 5th | — | Patrick Wood | 11
2021 | NPL1	17 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 29 | 44 | −15 | 14 | 12th | — | Adrian Segecic | 4
2022 | NPL1	22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 53 | 45 | +8 | 32 | 7th | — | Jaiden Kucharski | 18

¹ Leading scorer statistics include goals scored exclusively in league fixtures (National Youth League, NYL Finals, or National Premier Leagues) matches.

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
  • Titles (4): 2008–09, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2019–20
  • Second place (2): 2017–18, 2018–19
• Y-League/A-League Youth Championship
  • Titles (3): 2008–09, 2015–16, 2019–20
  • Second place (1): 2016–17

Academy

• NPL NSW U-20 Premiership
  • Second place (1): 2018
• NPL NSW U-20 Championship
  • Champions (1): 2016
  • Second place (1): 2018
• NPL NSW 2 U-20 Premiership
  • Champions (1): 2016
• NPL NSW U-18 Premiership
  • Champions (2): 2017, 2018
• NPL NSW 2 U-18 Premiership
  • Second place (1): 2016
• NPL NSW U-18 Championship
  • Champions (2): 2017, 2018
  • Second place (1): 2016

International

Youth

• International U-21 Thanh Niên Newspaper Cup
  • Second place (1): 2013
  • Third place (1): 2012
• Free Trade Port trophy
  • Champions (1): 2018 (competing as Team Australia alongside Newcastle Jets)

Under-20s

• Future Cup (U-17 Tournament)
  • Fifth position (1): 2018

Other

Youth

• NPL Fair Play Award (3): awarded in 2017 and twice in 2019

Individual

• NPL First Team Player of the Year: Jaiden Kucharski (2022)
• NPL U-20 Player of the Year: Luka Smyth (2022)

See also

• Sydney FC