Melbourne Victory Football Club Youth is the youth system of Melbourne Victory based in Melbourne, Victoria. 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-23s Y-League competition.
| Full name | Melbourne Victory Football Club Youth | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Victory, Victory NYL | ||
| Short name | MVC | ||
| Founded | 2008 | ||
| Ground | Epping Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 10,000 | ||
| Chairman | John Dovaston | ||
| Manager | Joe Palatsides | ||
| League | Victoria Premier League 1 A-League Youth | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
Youth team history edit
The team was founded in 2008, as a Melbourne Victory representative team for the inaugural season of the National Youth League competition, along with six other youth squads, and finished a disappointing sixth. The development side has had three managers, Mehmet Durakovic, who was promoted to manager of the senior squad in 2011, and current managers Darren Davies and John Aloisi. Davies led the youth side to its first silverware victory in winning the premiership plate, finishing first on the National Youth League ladder in the 2012-13 season. It would be current club chairman Anthony Di Pietro's first silverware victory as well.On 7 November 2014, it was confirmed that the team would compete in the National Premier Leagues Victoria 1 competition for 2015 season onwards.[1] Victory managed promotion at their first attempt, placing second in the NPL1 East division, going on to beat Moreland Zebras FC in the qualification playoff and then North Geelong Warriors FC in the promotion playoff. For the club's first season in the top tier of football in Victorian state football, Matt Hennessey and Ryan Lambert were signed from Hume City FC and Richmond SC respectively.[2]
Youth/NPL current squad edit
- As of 13 February 2024[3]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Current staff edit
Head Coaches:
| Joe Palatsides | 1st Grade Head Coach |
| Rodrigo Vargas | U21 Head Coach |
| Andreas Papanicolaou | U18 Head Coach |
| Joaquín Moreno | U16 Head Coach |
| Matthew Sultana | U15 Head Coach |
| Rob Wielaert | U14 Head Coach |
| Tom Paton | Pre Academy Head Coach |
| Mark Topic | Pre Academy Head Coach |
| Isabella Santilli | Pre Academy Head Coach |
| Matt Fletcher | Pre Academy Head Coach |
| Brad Roberts | Pre Academy Head Coach |
| Reide Mulholland | Pre Academy Head Coach |
Staff:
| Joe Palatsides | Head of Academy Coaching |
| Andrew Kentepozidis | Academy Operations Manager |
| Jayden Anderson | Academy Sports Science Lead |
| Amelia Thomas | Academy Medical Lead |
| Sebastian Bechaud | Head of Academy Goalkeeping |
| Agim Sherifovski | Academy Assistant Coach |
| Piotr Rutkowski | Academy Assistant Coach |
| Mark Spiteri | Pre Academy Head Goalkeeping Coach |
| Ashley Wisneske | Pre Academy Goalkeeping Coach |
| Archie Thompson | Academy Development Coach |
| Fahid Ben Khalfallah | Academy Development Coach |
| Gaby Garton | Academy Development Coach |
| Joey Didulica | Academy Development Coach |
| Sasa Ognenovski | Academy Development Coach |
Honours edit
- Youth
- La Ionica Community Cup
- Winners (1): 2015
National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 Premiership
- Runners-up (1): 2015
- Under-23s
- Academy
- National Premier Leagues Victoria U-20 Premiership
- Premiers (1): 2015
- National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 U-20 Premiership
National Premier Leagues Victoria U-18 Premiership
- Premiers (1): 2019
Stadiums edit
The team play their home matches at Epping Stadium in Melbourne's northern suburb of Epping. The stadium has a total capacity of 10,000, with a single grandstand of approximately 1,000 seats. Past venues used as a home ground by the club have been South Melbourne FC home ground Lakeside Stadium in Albert Park, Bentleigh Greens' Kingston Heath in Cheltenham and Northcote City's John Cain Memorial Park in Thornbury; however, with the side now competing the top division of Victorian football, along with all three of these sides, ground-sharing with any of the sides was not a preferred option, with Epping Stadium providing the club with the facilities required. The team has also played competitive matches at Victory's senior team home venues, AAMI Park and Etihad Stadium.
Former players edit
This is a list of former Melbourne Victory Youth players, who have played at least 20 A-League competitive matches for the first team.
- As of 22 December 2021
| Name | Nationality | Position | Melbourne career | Appearances | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Ansell |  Australia | Defender | 2011–17, 2018–19, 2020–21 | 92 | 1 |
| Thomas Deng | Australia | Defender | 2015–2020 | 71 | 2 |
| Mate Dugandzic | Australia | Forward | 2009–11 | 36 | 7 |
| Diogo Ferreira | Australia | Midfielder | 2010–13 | 52 | 2 |
| Matthew Foschini | Australia | Defender | 2009–13 | 53 | 0 |
| Petar Franjic | Australia | Defender | 2010–13 | 31 | 0 |
| Scott Galloway | Australia | Defender | 2013–16 | 54 | 1 |
| Jason Geria | Australia | Defender | 2012–18, 2021– | 110 | 0 |
| James Jeggo | Australia | Midfielder | 2011–14 | 30 | 2 |
| Mitchell Langerak | Australia | Goalkeeper | 2007–10 | 21 | 0 |
| Dylan Murnane | Australia | Defender | 2013–16 | 24 | 0 |
| Andrew Nabbout | Australia | Forward | 2012–15 | 37 | 5 |
| Sebastian Ryall | Australia | Defender | 2007–09 | 24 | 0 |
| Connor Pain | Australia | Forward | 2013–16 | 53 | 3 |
| Stefan Nigro | Australia | Midfielder | 2015–18, 2021– | 29 | 0 |
- Bold denotes players still playing in Melbourne Victory
- Appearances only consist of competitive domestic league appearances
Managerial history edit
| Dates | Name | Notes | Honours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 – 12 March 2011 |  Mehmet Durakovic | Inaugural manager First dual-nationality manager First manager to be directly promoted to manager of the senior squad | |
| 20 March 2011 – 30 May 2016 |  Darren Davies[4] | First official foreign manager First manager to earn honours | 2012–13 NYL Premiership[5] |
| 30 May 2016 – 22 February 2020[6] |  Gareth Naven[7] |
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Four More Clubs Granted NPL Licences". foxsportspulse.com. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
- ^ Kounelis, Jordan. "Kokolakis signs for Richmond, Tom Cahill yet to re-sign". MFootball. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
- ^ Melbourne Victory VPL1 Squad 2024
- ^ "Home Page | Football Victoria". 3 October 2018.
- ^ "Darren Davies Delighted With NYL Championship Especially For His Boys That Have Been Through The Ups And Downs". Breathing Football.com. 5 March 2013. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
- ^ "Gareth Naven returns to Perth". Melbourne Victory FC. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
- ^ "Victory appoints Gareth Naven as NPL/NYL Head Coach". Melbourne Victory. 30 May 2016.