Adelaide United Football Club Youth is the youth system of Adelaide United Football Club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The team plays 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.
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. They finished 2nd to the qualification of the 2009 Grand Final against Sydney FC. The final result was a 2âÂÂ0 loss at Hindmarsh Stadium 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 1âÂÂ0 to Perth Glory in the semi-final.
In the 2010âÂÂ11 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.
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.
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 4âÂÂ0 victory. Then they lost 1âÂÂ0 against Barcelona. This was the first game for an Adelaide United side to face Barcelona. The final game was against Palamos CF in a 3âÂÂ0 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 0âÂÂ0. The game was decided in a penalty shoot-out, which Adelaide United won 5âÂÂ4. The Reds ended their 2015 Mediterranean International Cup, with a 4âÂÂ0 loss against Malaga CF.
On 11 January 2016, Adelaide United claimed their premiership in Conference A, 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 5âÂÂ2 to Sydney FC Youth with them being 2016 National Youth League Champions.
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 1âÂÂ0 scoreline in the qualifying-finals.
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.
This is a list of former Adelaide United Youth players, who have played at least 20 competitive matches for the first team. <br />