Adelaide United FC Tryouts
Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League under license from Australian Professional Leagues (APL).
Adelaide United FC Youth Development System
Academy
At the time of this writing, there is no official academy / trial / tryout information for Adelaide United FC. Please come back at a later date while we monitor this club or click here to visit their official news section for the latest information.
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Partner Clubs
Although Adelaide United FC has no academy information at this time, they do have a partner club playing in the Chinese Football Association with a youth program.
Qingdao Red Lions FC
Qingdao Red Lions Football Club is a professional football club, currently playing in the second division of the Chinese Football Association. Based in Qingdao, Qingdao Red Lions Football Club adheres to the business philosophy of localization and communityization. While focusing on the development of professional football, it also hopes to make full use of the club’s advanced football concepts and rich overseas football resources to contribute to the development of Qingdao’s local football. contribute.
Especially in the field of youth football development, Qingdao Red Lion Youth Training is committed to providing football culture popularization education and football technical skills training for youth who love football. At present, Qingdao Red Lion Youth Training has established three youth training centers in Laoshan District, Licang District and Laixi City, with a total of more than 200 registered trainees.
The Red Lion Youth Training provides various forms of youth training in and out of Qingdao, including weekly training, school cooperation, personal training and football summer camps.
Since its establishment, the club has always regarded youth training as one of the club’s core businesses. The Qingdao Red Lions Youth Training fully upgraded the coaching team. UEFA A-level coach Hector Buraglia personally led the training, bringing a different new experience to the students. The Red Lions also hired many outstanding AFC C-level coaches in China.
If you want your child to participate in our football training, please contact Hector and John, the person in charge of our football school (WeChat account: RedlionsFC), or call (0532) 8093 1366 to contact our headquarters.
Looking forward to your coming!
For registration or consultation, please contact us through the following ways:
WeChat ID: RedlionsFC
Phone: (0532) 8093 1366
Email: [email protected]
History
After Adelaide City resigned from the National Soccer League (NSL) in August 2003, the city of Adelaide was without a team in the NSL for the first time since the league’s inception in 1977. This was the first time Adelaide had been without an NSL team.
The previous season, 1999, was West Adelaide’s last in the NSL before they withdrew. As a direct response, Adelaide United was founded on September 12, 2003. Builder and real estate entrepreneur Gordon Pickard provided the first finance for the new club, and Basil Scarsella, a former executive with Soccer Australia and FIFA, was appointed to the position of Chairman.
On September 13, former Brisbane Strikers and Newcastle Breakers manager John Kosmina was officially announced as the manager of the club. Within the span of a few weeks, a team that would compete in the inaugural season of the club was pieced together, with the majority of its players coming from the Adelaide City squad that had been cut from the previous season. On October 17, 2003, Adelaide United defeated Brisbane Strikers 1-0 in front of a crowd of more than 16,000 people to earn its first ever victory in the National Soccer League.
After an outstanding home and away season in 2003, including a seven-match unbeaten streak that spanned November and December, Adelaide United made it all the way to the NSL preliminary final, but they were ultimately defeated by Perth Glory. The National Soccer League (NSL) folded at the conclusion of the 2003–04 season, after having played for a total of 28 seasons.
The Reds only participated in the NSL’s final season, as the league’s governing body, the Australian Soccer Association (later renamed the Football Federation of Australia), disbanded the league in advance of the launch of the fully professional A-League on August 26, 2005, almost a year and a half later.
In addition to being one of only three teams to survive from the National Soccer League’s most recent season, Adelaide United was one of the eight teams that were announced to compete in the inaugural season of the Australian Football League (A-League). The other two teams are Perth Glory and Newcastle Jets. United began their preparations sooner than the majority of the other clubs, and by the time February 2005 rolled around, they had already announced 16 of the 20-man roster.
The club made it a priority to bring back to South Australia a number of players who were born in Adelaide, including Angelo Costanzo, Travis Dodd, and Lucas Pantelis, all of whom had previously competed in the National Soccer League for Adelaide City SC. In March of 2005, the team made a “marquee signing” by acquiring Shengqing Qu from the Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua. According to this rule, each club is allowed to pay one player more than the maximum allowed by the salary ceiling.
Before the commencement of the A-League, Aurelio Vidmar made the announcement that he would be retiring. Before the fifth round, the Brazilian striker Fernando came in as his replacement. Fernando was a previous “player of the year” in the old National Soccer League. By relocating to Adelaide, he was able to get back in touch with his previous coach, John Kosmina, who had first brought him to the attention of Australian audiences while he was playing with the Brisbane Strikers. Adelaide United Director Mel Patzwald established links with the American club Miami FC and established a “sister club” relationship with them.
As a result of these connections, Adelaide United played a number of friendlies against Miami FC, which ultimately led to the club’s acquisition of Diego from Miami. In addition, the team brought on Brazilian icon Romário for a guest spell of five games in November and December of 2006. In addition, through Mel’s contacts, they were able to establish a sister club affiliation with the Chinese club Shandong Luneng, who were the reigning Asian champions at the time.
The success that Adelaide United had in the previous season of the National Soccer League (NSL) carried over into the first season of the Hyundai A-League, where they won the championship. The Reds were eliminated from the playoffs in two straight games after suffering losses to Sydney FC in the semifinals over two legs and then to the Central Coast Mariners by a score of 1-0 in the preliminary final played at Hindmarsh. After the match ended 1–1 in regulation and extra time, Adelaide United won the A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup by defeating the defending champions, the Central Coast Mariners, 5–4 on penalties.
This victory gave Adelaide United a strong start to the new season. The Reds ended up finishing in second place in the premiership season, behind only Melbourne Victory. The Reds were able to proceed to the Grand Final of the 2006–07 season after defeating the Newcastle Jets 4–3 on penalties (1–1 AET). This victory capped up an impressive run in the playoffs. On February 18, 2007, the Grand Final between Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory was held at the Telstra Dome. Adelaide United was defeated by Melbourne Victory by a score of 6-0. The following week, Coach John Kosmina was fired, but not just for the loss in the championship game; the allegations of mistreatment against two Channel 10 reporters were also a factor.
During the 2006–2007 season, Brazilian international Romário participated in a guest player spell with the club for a total of four games. Both Adelaide United and Sydney FC were chosen to represent Australia in the inaugural season of the AFC Champions League in 2007. Adelaide United was chosen to compete alongside Sydney FC. As A-League champions, they were given a spot in the Asian competition. Group G consists of Chinese champion Shandong Luneng Taishan, Korean champion Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma, and Vietnamese league and Super Cup champion Gach Dong Tam Long An. Adelaide was placed in this group.
Adelaide came in third place in its respective group. The Reds started off the new season by beating Perth Glory 2–1 at Hindmarsh Stadium to win the A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup. This victory marked the beginning of the new season for the Reds. The team ended in sixth place in the A-League and did not qualify for the finals because they focused all of their efforts on doing well in the AFC Champions League campaign.
After coming in second place to Melbourne Victory in both the regular season and the playoffs in 2006–2007, Adelaide United qualified for the AFC Champions League the following year (2008). In Group E, Adelaide will compete against the likes of Banh Dng, winners of both the V-League and the Super Cup, Changchun Yatai, champions of the Chinese Super League, and Pohang Steelers, champions of the Korean Premier League.
The city of Adelaide made history by being the first team from Australia to get to the semifinals of the AFC Champions League. After eliminating Saipa in the quarter-final round, Adelaide was given Bunyodkor as their opponent in the semifinals. Bunyodkor finished in second place in the Uzbek League in 2007. Diego, Barbiero, and Cristiano (through a penalty kick) scored for Adelaide in the first leg of the semi-final, which resulted in a 3–0 victory for Adelaide.
At Hindmarsh Stadium, there were a total of 16,998 spectators present for the match. Despite Adelaide United’s 0–1 loss to FC Bunyodkor in the second leg of the semi finals, the team advanced to the championship match with a 3–1 aggregate score. They faced up against the Japanese team Gamba Osaka in the two-legged final after Gamba Osaka had eliminated the 2007 champions Urawa Red Diamonds in the other semi-final.
Gamba Osaka handed Adelaide a crushing defeat throughout the course of both legs. Gamba Osaka won the match away by a score of 3–0, and Osaka won the match at home by a score of 2–0; the overall score was Gamba Osaka’s victory by a score of 5–0. This outcome assured that Adelaide would compete in the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup either as the representative team for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) or as the non-Japanese team that finished in first place overall, given the regulations only permit one Japanese team to compete in the tournament.
During the off season, Socceroos Bruce Djite and Nathan Burns both decided to leave the team. At the conclusion of round 27, Adelaide had tied for first place with Melbourne, matching the latter’s total of 38 points on the ladder. The Reds were only able to earn a 1–0 victory against the Central Coast Mariners away, despite the fact that they needed a 2–0 victory to win the premiership.
Because they had less goals than Adelaide, Adelaide had to settle for second place. The Reds were one of the teams that qualified for the finals, along with Melbourne Victory, Queensland Roar, and Central Coast Mariners. Adelaide United was defeated by Melbourne Victory 1-0 in the Grand Final, which took place at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne.
The game was marked by the contentious ejection of Cristiano in the tenth minute, which ultimately led to the team’s failure to win. The run that Adelaide made all the way to the championship game of the AFC Champions League against Gamba Osaka was an early highlight for the season. Gamba Osaka qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup by finishing as the top team in the AFC Champion’s League.
As a result, the Japanese team that was supposed to host the event was able to be filled by Adelaide United, which finished in second place in the AFC Champion’s League. Their first game was a play-off against Waitakere United, who were the champions of the OFC Champions League in 2007–08 and are from New Zealand. The Reds secured a rematch with ACL rivals Gamba Osaka on 14 December after defeating Waitakere 2–1 with to two set plays from Paul Reid. This will be the third time that these two teams have faced each other in the past three weeks.
The Reds put up a tremendous effort and generated many opportunities, particularly thanks to Travis Dodd, but ultimately fell short, losing 0–1 after a shot by Gamba midfielder Yasuhito End in the 23rd minute. On the 18th of December, Adelaide competed against the Egyptian club Al Ahly SC in the fifth-place play-off match. Adelaide came out on top, winning the match 1-0, and was awarded the fifth-place prize of $1.5 million.
After the completion of the competition, the Fair Play award was given to Adelaide United, and Cristiano’s goal that he scored in the fifth-place play-off was chosen as the goal of the tournament. After a successful year in both the A-League and on the international stage, Adelaide United kicked off its pre-season without a financial owner; Nick Bianco returned his A-League license to Football Federation Australia. Nick Bianco was the previous owner of the club (FFA). Regardless of the circumstances, the FFA made certain that Adelaide would have the cash to sustain the club and to acquire new players over the offseason while they negotiated new ownership terms.
This was done so that Adelaide could continue to compete. However, this was not enough to save the team from being awarded the wooden spoon for the 2009–10 season, which was the club’s worst performing season in its very brief history. After finishing in second place in the A-League league table for the 2008–09 season and coming in second place in the Finals series to cross-border rivals Melbourne Victory, Adelaide qualified for the ACL Champions League the following year (2010).
The 2009 Asian Champions Pohang Steelers, Adelaide, Adelaide’s Chinese sister club Shandong Luneng, and Sanfrecce Hiroshima were all placed in the same group as Adelaide. The fact that Adelaide United was able to maintain their hold on the top spot in Group H earned them a round of 16 match at their stadium. In an encounter that was both exciting and nerve-wracking, Adelaide was defeated by Jeonbuk Motors 3–2. Two times throughout the game, Adelaide mounted a comeback, including scoring a goal in the game’s waning seconds.
A goal scored by Jeonbuk in the second half of extra time was enough to give them the victory in the match. In contrast to the club’s long-standing practice of hiring local coaches for each of its previous seasons, the Adelaide United moved away from its long-standing tradition of hiring an international manager for the first time in the club’s history. That manager was Rini Coolen. As of the 9th of September in the year 2010, Adelaide United had made history in the sport of Australian soccer by becoming the first team to climb from the bottom of the table all the way to the top.
In contrast, the 2009–10 premiers and champions, Sydney FC, continued to reside at the bottom of the table. With their victory over Wellington Phoenix in Week 11 of the league, Adelaide United also claimed the record for the longest undefeated streak in the history of the Australian Football League (A-League). This streak consisted of thirteen games and dated back to the penultimate round of the 2009–10 A-League season.
This broke the previous mark held by the Central Coast Mariners, who had gone twelve games without losing in the 2005–2006 season of the Australian Football League (A-League). Unfortunately for Adelaide United, Brisbane Roar surpassed this freshly set record when the Roar dominated their match against the Central Coast Mariners at Bluetongue Stadium in Week 16. The Roar won the match by a large margin.
On November 8, 2010, it was reported that a South Australian group had taken over ownership of the club with a ten-year license. This occurred after the club had been placed under the financial administration of Football Federation Australia (FFA) for a period of 18 months. Greg Griffin, the new co-owner of the club, has taken over as Chairman of the club, succeeding Mel Patzwald in that post. Glenn Elliott, formerly the CEO of the North Adelaide Football Club, has replaced Sam Ciccarello, who has accepted a position with the FFA.
At AAMI Park in Melbourne on the 9th of January 2011, Adelaide ended its longest winless skid against its archrival club Melbourne Victory by registering a 4–1 victory away from home. The match took place in Melbourne. After that, Adelaide United went on to make history in the A-League by setting a record for the largest winning margin ever recorded in the history of the league with an 8–1 victory over North Queensland Fury on January 21, 2011. This also marked the first time two players from the same side scored hat-tricks in the same game (Sergio van Dijk and Marcos Flores), and it matched the all-time highest match aggregate score of 9 goals scored in one match, which had previously been the record for the most goals scored in a single match.
The season came to a close for Adelaide with a victory over Melbourne Victory by a score of 2–1 at Adelaide Oval in front of a crowd of 21,038 people, which was the club’s largest audience of the year. This insured that the club would finish the year in third place overall in the standings and earn the opportunity to host at least the first week of the knock-out Finals Series.
After beating Wellington Phoenix in the first week of the Finals despite the pouring rain, Adelaide United eventually lost to Gold Coast United in the second week of the Finals and was eliminated from the competition as a result of a 2–3 loss at home. The club’s captain, Travis Dodd, as well as long-time players Lucas Pantelis and Robert Cornthwaite, as well as fan favorites Mathew Leckie and Marcos Flores, all left the team to sign with clubs outside of the United States during the offseason transfer window. Rini Coolen was able to gain the signatures of Socceroos Bruce Djite, Jon McKain, and Dario Vidoi, which was a major coup for both the club and the A-League.
Dario Vidoi was given the opportunity to take on the role of Australian marquee player at the club for the upcoming season. It was reported on the 18th of December, 2011 that head coach Rini Coolen had been fired, and that former head coach John Kosmina would be taking over as caretaker coach for the remainder of the season, including the group stage of the AFC Champions League in 2012. On December 28, 2011, Eugene Galekovi was given the role of club captain, succeeding Jon McKain in the role. This was part of Kosmina’s transition into his new role as head coach.
As a result of their third-place performance in the 2010–2011 A-League season, Adelaide qualified for the playoff round of the 2012 AFC Champions League. This is their fourth appearance in the competition, which is the most appearances of any other Australian club. They were assigned to play in Group E, which was promptly called the “Group of Death” by a number of analysts. Other teams in that group included Bunyodkor, Gamba Osaka, and Pohang Steelers. After advancing to the Round of 16 for the third time, Adelaide went on to win their match against Nagoya Grampus at home by a score of 1-0 and earn a spot in the quarterfinals of the competition.
In the quarter-finals, Adelaide competed against Bunyodkor. At home, Adelaide threw away a two-point lead to Bunyodkor, which led to the game’s final score of two points each. After the first 90 minutes of play in the second leg, which took place in Tashkent, the score was again tied at 2–2, which meant that there would need to be extra time and possibly penalties after that. In spite of the fact that Iain Ramsay scored for Adelaide in the third minute to give them the lead, Bunyodkor eventually eliminated Adelaide by scoring in the additional time that was added on. Iain Fyfe and Fabian Barbiero each received two yellow cards during the encounter, which led to their dismissal from the Adelaide squad, leaving the team with nine players total.
After being appointed in a caretaker role by Rini Coolen in December 2011, John Kosmina was given the permanent coaching position of Adelaide United for the 2012–13 season. This was Kosmina’s first full season in the role. Additionally, this season was Kosmina’s first time leading the Adelaide squad since the 2006–2007 campaign. John Kosmina had communicated to the club his wish for a two-year extension to his current contract; however, rumors publicly emerged of assistant coach Michael Valkanis being awarded a contract extension, but not Kosmina. Kosmina was not offered an extension of his contract.
The head coach tendered his resignation not long after that. Valkanis has been given the role of acting head coach till the end of the season, while Sergio Melta, a former player for Adelaide City, has been given the role of acting as his assistant. The Reds ended in fourth place in the A-League standings, although they were eliminated from championship contention after losing 2–1 to the Brisbane Roar in an elimination final.
On April 30, 2013, Josep Gombau signed a contract to serve as the club’s head coach for the next two seasons. He began his tenure with the organization in July 2013. Gombau moved quickly during the winter transfer window to bring some Spanish flavor to the team’s roster. Sergio Cirio and Isaas Sánchez, both natives of Spain and products of the youth program at Barcelona, were his first two acquisitions. In addition to this, Gombau brought in Pau Marti, who had been working as an assistant coach under him for a considerable amount of time, to work alongside Michael Valkanis.
In addition to those players, he brought in others like Tarek Elrich and Steven Lustica, Michael Zullo on loan for the entire season, and Brent McGrath to fill in for an injured player for a period of four weeks. Awer Mabil and Jordan Elsey were both promoted from the club’s youth program, and as a result, they were each awarded a contract for a period of two years. Both Sergio van Dijk and Dario Vidoi were reportedly moved for a price of 700,000 Swiss Francs to play for Persib Bandung and Sion respectively.
Under the direction of the new manager Gombau, the Reds’ season got off to a rocky start. They started the season with only one victory in their first nine games, and there were already calls for the club to fire the new man in command before the season even began. Gombau made rapid work of turning around the club’s woes, claiming his second victory in round 10 with a 4–0 victory over the Central Coast Mariners.
The club maintained this form throughout the 27 home and away games, which enabled them to advance to the playoffs by two points and finish in sixth place overall on the table. In the elimination final, Adelaide was defeated by Central Coast by a score of 1-0, which brought an end to their season. The match against Melbourne Victory in round 2 at Hindmarsh Stadium, which ended in a 2–2 tie, had the largest attendance for the Reds during the 2013–14 season, with 16,504 people in attendance. Josep Gombau was fast to establish a possession-based football style at Adelaide, all the way from the grassroots level of local soccer to the senior team, carrying over from the previous season.
This style was carried over from the previous season. Guillermo Amor, a legend of FC Barcelona, was brought in by Gombau to serve as the club’s technical director. This move further cemented Gombau’s dogmatic stance. Gombau’s United won the inaugural FFA Cup with a 1–0 win against Perth Glory. While doing so, Josep elevated the technical and tactical quality of the local brand, earning the respect and admiration of rival clubs, coaches, and the FFA. The FFA unanimously voted him in as coach of the A-League All Stars team for the 2014 A-League All Stars Game against the visiting Juventus. Gombau’s United won the FFA Cup.
In July of 2015, Gombau parted ways with the club in order to pursue a position as a youth coach in the United States. Guillermo Amor, who was serving as the club’s technical director, was announced as his replacement following the shocking resignation of Josep Gombau, who had taken up a youth coaching role in the United States shortly before the start of the season. Jacobo Ramallo, who was in charge as the director of Adelaide United’s Football School, was named as Guillermo Amor’s assistant. Jacobo Ramallo was in charge as the director of Adelaide United’s Football School.
After eight rounds of the season, Adelaide had yet to record a victory, which left them rooted to the bottom of the standings with just three points and three goals scored. Despite this, Adelaide went on to win 13 of their subsequent 18 games, losing only once along the way, to finish atop the standings and claim the club’s second Premier’s Plate. After a week off during which the Elimination Finals were played, Adelaide United defeated Melbourne City 4–1 in a Semi-final match at Coopers Stadium to advance to the Grand Final where they would for the first time host the Grand Final at the Adelaide Oval.
This achievement came after Adelaide United had a week off during which the Elimination Finals were played. The Reds finally won their first A-League championship after defeating the Western Sydney Wanderers 3–1 in front of a crowd of 50,119 people in the Grand Final of the tournament. The match between Adelaide United and Redlands United FC, a team from the National Premier Leagues in Queensland, was dubbed the game with the greatest upset in the history of the FFA Cup. Adelaide United was eliminated in the first round of the 2016 FFA Cup after suffering a shocking loss of 2–1 to Redlands United FC. Bruce Djite, Craig Goodwin, Pablo Sánchez, Stefan Mauk, and Bruce Kamau were among the players that needed to be replaced from Adelaide United’s starting team for the grand final.
However, these players were replaced by younger players such as Jesse Makarounas, Nikola Mileusnic, Ben Garuccio, Marc Marino, Jordan O’Doherty, and Riley McGree, as well as more experienced players Henrique and James Holland, as well as Spanish Striker Sergi Guard After losing to Sydney FC in the FFA Cup final with a scoreline of 2–1, Adelaide United finished in second place. After that, Marco Kurz played in his debut A-League game, which was a tie against Wellington Phoenix (1–1). Johan Absalonsen, who was a new addition to the team and scored 8 goals across all competitions, was their leading scorer this season.
They ended up finishing fifth in the A-League, but their run ended in the elimination final, where they were defeated by Melbourne Victory with a score of 2-1 in front of 15,502 fans. After defeating Sydney FC 2–1 in the final of the FFA Cup at Coopers Stadium, Adelaide United was crowned the winner of the competition. The organization revealed on March 19th, 2019 that they would not be extending Marco Kurz’s contract in any capacity. During the regular season, United ended in fourth place.
Craig Goodwin finished his time with United as the team’s highest goalscorer with 15 tallies scored across all competitions. Ben Halloran scored the game-winning goal for the Reds in the 119th minute of their elimination final match against Melbourne City, which they won 1-0. The match was played at the Reds’ home stadium.
After playing to a 3–3 draw, Adelaide United was ultimately knocked out of the competition in the semifinals after suffering a defeat at the hands of Perth Glory in a penalty shootout. After winning the 2019 FFA Cup Final at home by a score of four goals to zero against Melbourne City, Adelaide strengthened their claim to have the most FFA Cup titles with three victories.