User:Eccy89/Sydney FC Youth seasons

The 2015–16 Sydney FC Youth season is the club's 8th season since forming from parent club, Sydney FC in 2008. The club participated in the National Youth League for the 8th time and the National Premier Leagues NSW 2 for the 1st time.

Signings
Of the sixteen contracted National Youth League players, eleven were returning players. Theses included players with important A-League experience, Aaron Calver, George Blackwood and Max Burgess. Yianni Spyrakis, who had played for Central Coast Mariners Youth last season, and Lachlan Hughes, an unused substitute for Sydney FC's Round of 32 FFA Cup game, are two new additions to team with good experience. The other three signings include Juan Zapata, Emmanuel Gonzalez and Young Socceroos goalkeeper, Nick Sorras.

NYL
In the new National Youth League format with a shortened season, Sydney FC Youth started out of the block early recording three consecutive wins. Through the ten round campaign, the team lost only two games, both against Newcastle Jets Youth. The team sat two points clear of Newcastle to end the regular season in first place for Conference B. As Conference B winners, Sydney FC Youth played Adelaide United Youth for the premiership in a curtain raiser to A-League Round 16 match between Central Coast Mariners and Western Sydney Wanderers on 23 January, 2016. Sydney FC Youth were convincing winners, taking out the premiership with a scoreline of 5–2.

National Premier Leagues 2 NSW
Many influential faces returned for the debut of the team in the National Premier Leagues setup. These included, Spyrakis, Timotheou, Araujo, Burgess, Lokolingoy and Antoniou. Notable exceptions included Anthony Bouzanis, Aaron Calver and George Blackwood as they had also signed senior contracts and were ineligible for the tournament.

The team's debut match did not go according to plan, losing to Mounties FC 2–0 at home (Lambert Park). The side then went on a thrilling ten-game winning streak, that included some big wins (7–0 against Macarthur Rams and 7–4 against Bankstown Berries). The streak ended in somewhat unfortunate circumstances against Marconi Stallions as Sydney FC Youth, after leading 1–0, allowed in two goals in last five minutes of the Round 12 clash to lose 2–1. The following game saw another defeat for the Sky Blues, suffering defeat in the "mini derby" against rivals Western Sydney Wanderers Youth. A win, then a draw to Mounties FC in the Round 14 make-up game, then two more losses, meant Sydney FC Youth only picked up four points out of a possible 24, with title hopes looking shaky. However, Sydney FC Youth would get back on track with wins against Bankstown City Lions FC and St George FC. Sydney FC Youth remained undefeated in the final four rounds of the regular season to win the Premiers Plate, two points ahead of Western Sydney Wanderers Youth. Infact, the final day was a very tense affair, as the two clubs were matched up against each other. The Wanderers, who were trailing by 3 points and –10 points differential needed a very large win to leap-frog the Sky Blues. However, the sides played out a 4–all draw at Popondetta Park and Sydney FC Youth were declared premiers.

National Premier Leagues First Grade squad
As of 15 March 2016

National Premier Leagues U-20's squad
As of 15 March 2016