A-League National Youth League

Infobox sports league
title = A-League National Youth League
current_season =

pixels = 130px
caption =
sport = Association football
founded = 2008
fame =
motto = 90 minutes, 90 emotions
inaugural =
teams = 7
country = flagicon|AUS Australia
champion =
most_champs =
folded =
website =
singles =
ceo =
TV =
related_comps = A-League

The A-League National Youth League is a Australian national association football league run in parallel to the A-League. The aim of a league is to provide a pathway for young players and state league players to play regular high-level football, and allow reserve players from senior A-League teams to remain match fit. The league was announced by Football Federation Australia at the start of March 2008, and the inaugural league will start in August 2008 alongside the A-League 2008-09 season.cite news|url=http://www.a-league.com.au/default.aspx?s=hal_newsdisplay&id=21676|title=National Youth League to start in August|date=2008-03-05|accessdate=2008-05-27|publisher=A-League] cite news|url=http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,23325783-5000940,00.html|title=Youth 'A-League' to kick off in August|date=2008-03-05|accessdate=2008-05-27|publisher=Fox Sports] Although in a July interview with Ben Buckley, he stated the competition would start in September, after the finish of the various state leagues. [cite news|url=http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/79500,launch-dates-on-track--ffa.aspx|title=Launch Dates On Track|date=2008-07-01|accessdate=2008-08-15|publisher=FourFourTwo (Australia)]

All Australian A-League clubs - that is, all A-League teams except ALeague WP - will field a youth league side.

Format

The season will take a 21 round format which will run in parallel with the A-League. Due to having seven teams, each team will end up playing 18 games and having three byes.

Player regulations

Each club should have 10–12 Youth Development Players. Players must be between the ages of 16 and 21 as of January 1 in the year the season commences. Four over-age players (including goalkeeper) are also allowed to be selected. Each youth player must receive a minimum of 30 minutes game time.

These players can be any Australian player within the age group, and can be from the Australian Institute of Sport. A-League clubs must draw replacement players for their senior teams from the Youth League squad, except under certain circumstances.

Teams

For the 2008-09 season, the seven clubs are:

ALeague WP had considered having a Youth League team based in Canberra [cite news|url=http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/72298,phoenixs-canberra-invasion-for-youth.aspx|title=Phoenix's Canberra Invasion For Youth|publisher=FourFourTwo|date=2008-03-18|accessdate=2008-06-06] , but later put these plans on hold. [cite news|url=http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/73788,phoenix-put-youth-plans-on-ice.aspx|title=Phoenix Put Youth Plans On Ice|publisher=FourFourTwo|date=2008-04-12|accessdate=2008-06-06]

A Tasmanian youth team, organised by Football Federation Tasmania, will play four friendly matches against A-League youth teams during the season. [cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,23765114-13222,00.html|title=A-League on agenda for youth|publisher=The Mercury|date=2008-05-27|accessdate=2008-06-06]

References

External links

* [http://www.a-league.com.au/ A-League official website]