National Soccer Youth League

National Soccer Youth League

Countries	Australia
Founded	1984
Folded	2004
Most championships	Melbourne Knights, South Melbourne, Australian Institute of Sport, (3 titles each)

The National Soccer Youth League, also known as the National Youth League, was an Australian national football (soccer) league run in parallel to the National Soccer League. The aim of the league was to provide a pathway for young players to play regular high-level football, and allow reserve players from senior NSL teams to remain match fit. The league was founded in 1984, alongside the simultaneous expansion of the senior competition, and followed the NSL's move to summer competition during the switch to summer play in 1989.

The competition was split into Northern and Southern divisions, with the winners of each division playing off in a grand final to decide the national champion. The Southern division included teams mostly from Victoria, but also sides from South Australia. The Northern division contained teams from the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Queensland. Teams were drawn from NSL clubs, state league clubs, regional represnattaive sides as well as the programs of the various state run sports institutes, such as the Australian Institute of Sport's Football Program. The competition ceased operation in 2004, at the same time the NSL ended. While the A-League replaced the NSL in 2005, after a season's recess, the NSYL was not succeeded by the A-League National Youth League until 2008.

Champions

Year	Champion	Runner up	Score	Venue
1984	South Melbourne Hellas	Melita Eagles	3–2
1985	Sydney City	Heidelberg Alexander	3-0
1986	Australian Institute of Sport	Sunshine George Cross	3–0
1987	Sydney Olympic	Sunshine George Cross	1-0
1988	Marconi	Sunshine George Cross	2-1
1989	Sunshine George Cross	Marconi	3–2
1989/1990	Melbourne Croatia	APIA Leichhardt	2–1
1990/1991	South Melbourne	Sydney Olympic	3–2
1991/1992	Sydney Croatia	South Melbourne	3–1
1992/1993	West Adelaide	Australian Institute of Sport	1–0
1993/1994	South Melbourne	Sydney United	2–0
1994/1995	Sydney United	Melbourne Knights	1-0
1995/1996	Marconi Stallions	West Adelaide	3–1
1996/1997	Melbourne Knights	Sydney United	1–0
1997/1998	Australian Institute of Sport	Adelaide City	4-1
1998/1999	Australian Institute of Sport	Adelaide City	8–1	Knights Stadium
1999/2000	Carlton	Parramatta Power	1-0
2000/2001	Melbourne Knights	Marconi Stallions	3–2
2001/2002	Parramatta Power	Melbourne Knights	2-0
2001/2002	Parramatta Power	Whittlesea Stallions	6-2
2003/2004	Canberra Deakin	South Melbourne	2–1

Performance by team

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning Years
Melbourne Knights	3	2	1989-90, 1996-97, 2000-01
South Melbourne	3	2	1984, 1990–91, 1993–94
Australian Institute of Sport	3	1	1986, 1997–98, 1998–99,
Marconi Stallions	2	2	1988, 1995–96
Sydney United	2	2	1991-92, 1994-95
Parramatta Power	2	1	2001-02, 2002-03
Sunshine George Cross	1	3	1989
Sydney Olympic	1	1	1987
West Adelaide	1	1	1992/93
Carlton	1	0	1999/2000
Canberra Deakin	1	0	2003-04
Sydney City	1	0	1985

See also

• National Soccer League
• A-League National Youth League

References

Roy Hay, 'The National Youth League 1984-2004', Goal Weekly, March 2008