Well done this is very informative and you have obviously put a lot of effort into this, fantastic post.

Yeah mate, I'll have a look at this tomorrow. Thanks for the feedback!

Hey mate, this is incredible. Well,done. I'm not sure if its possible but would really be an amazing thing to have the same stats for Aussies playing overseas that are eligible for Olyroos?

Amazing stats, thanks! 

Having read this thread, I did a little dive into the stats. 
I looked at the junior teams both between the ages of 12-16 and 16-18 of all Australian A-League players eligible for Olyroos selection currently - ie. born in 1997 or later. This is more representative of the current state of development in this country. 

Here are a few of the most productive NPL clubs around the country:
Croydon Kings - 12-16 - 4 players, 16-18 - 3 players
Adelaide Comets - 12-16 - 2 players, 16-18 - 3 players
Manly United - 12-16 - 6 players, 16-18 - 0 players
Brisbane City - 12-16 - 3 players, 16-18 - 0 players
Goulburn Valley Suns - 12-16 - 3 players, 16-18 - 1 player
Marconi - 12-16 - 5 players, 16-18 - 1 player
Mt Druitt - 12-16 - 1 player, 16-18 - 1 player
Sutherland Sharks - 12-16 - 10 players, 16-18 - 4 players
Brisbane Strikers - 12-16 - 3 players, 16-18 - 0 players
Blacktown City - 12-16 - 3 players, 16-18 - 3 players
Bonnyrigg White Eagles - 12-16 - 2 players, 16-18 - 1 player
Sunshine George Cross - 12-16 - 3 players, 16-18 - 0 players
Adelaide Raiders - 12-16 - 3 players, 16-18 - 3 players
Sydney Olympic - 12-16 - 2 players, 16-18 - 1 player
APIA Leichardt - 12-16 - 2 players, 16-18 - 0 players
Hakoah - 12-16 - 1 player, 16-18 - 2 players
Pascoe Vale - 12-16 - 2 players, 16-18 - 0 players
Sydney United - 12-16 - 6 players, 16-18 - 2 players
Blacktown Spartans - 12-16 - 2 players, 16-18 - 0 players
West Adelaide - 12-16 - 2 players, 16-18 - 1 player
ECU Joondalup - 12-16 - 1 player, 16-18 - 1 player

The most productive clubs/programs apart from the A-League clubs are the now retired NTC programs
FNSW NTC was responsible for the development of 19 players
FFSA NTC was responsible for the development of 16 players
FFV NTC was responsible for the development of 6 players
FW NTC was responsible for the development of 2 players
QAS was responsible for the development of 4 players
FFT was responsible for the development of 1 player
FFA COE was responsible for the development of 13 players

Hope this was informative!!

I don't think there is anything wrong with young players moving between clubs to move further up the tree.  Call it poaching if you like but to me it is sensible both by the clubs to improve their development teams and for the players to improve their exposure to higher competition.  For youth players transfer fees should never be charged, however, all the clubs on a players development pathway should get a dividend from the signing club once the player signs their first professional contract.

To JJs defence that is one of the first motions he championed, to get the domestic transfer system up and running..... I'm beginning to think this whole separation between APL and FA may end up being a really really positive step overall - who would have thought eh? :P

Yep! No doubt about it, It just seems so much more like day-light robbery because the AL clubs are in a closed shop and they (NPL) don't get much if anything to re-invest into youth development and purchasing/bringing in their own players they've scouted.

In all fairness mate the NSL clubs and current NPL clubs do pretty much the same thing to a degree. Yes they had/have fantastic nurseries of football and talented coaching staff, this in turn attracts the cream of youth from lesser (no disrespect AT ALL intended) clubs to look for ways to develop up the pyramid. That's why I believe linking the whole shemozzle together is so very crucial... To answer your first question I think ALL clubs do what they can to churn out the best players.
LFC said it best:
"Get this NSD up and running and blooding in more teens in Snr football as we once did long ago can only be huge positives for the future." - bang f#cking on.

Yep, and thats where this thread, is sort of more aimed at. What Grassroots clubs tend to whatever the challenges placed on them just continue rolling out quality players that go on to play professionally. 

Now that some AL sides have academies, starting at U12's or whatever the youngest age group is. We could see that change, but we can't ignore that AL clubs historically in the past 10-15 years have cherry-picked the best youth players for barely anything more than a 'Thanks, we'll take it from here.'

This isn't the AL clubs fault per se, More-so the system in which they belong, and the time they have belonged.

Lets not forget talking Sydney, SFC/WSW even CCM have/had poached many from NPL/YL in their early days getting established in the first place.....
Therefore the NPL clubs would have produced far more up and comers might I add.

Got to echo patjennings re CCM, last years CCM 1'st/20's in PL2 won both grades.
I watched them a number of times incl the semi, some very young ones in the 20's and many 1st's on the cusp of AL as we have seen this season.
They also have drawn on many youth from Sydney's north.

There are counltess more talented ones in Youth/NPL but having just 3 AL Clubs can only take so many.
Get this NSD up and running and blooding in more teens in Snr football as we once did long ago can only be huge positives for the future.

Good post.

One outlier for the past 15 years is Joondalap in WA. They have produced a significant number of youth players that have gone overseas.

I guess if depends on how you determine "best" at a youth level, for mine there are 3 factors I would be looking at;
1. No cost to participate (or low fee), you don't want to be excluding players when you are trying to develop them simply because they can't afford to participate.
2. A good level of coaching, this one is hard to determine as it can change year on year depending on the coaches and how they gel with the particular group of kids, but looking for qualifications and experience in youth development.
3. Doesn't forget about the player as a person, very few players who go through the various academies are going to become professional football players so the kids need to be encouraged to keep up with their schooling and have a life outside of the academy so they can grow as a person and be the best they can be even if it isn't in football.

I don't know that there are many, if any, academies in Australia that would meet all three criteria, in Qld probably only the Roar come close to hitting all three of those. I'm not sure on the other states.

I'm sure AFL players are getting some good practice at Footscray Park.

I'd say the best academies in NSW outside the A-League clubs would probably be Manly United and Blacktown City. 

Thanks for the kind words mate!! 

Great thread topic mate, sadly one I don't know a whole lot about so won't be contributing too much although I would certainly enjoy hearing others who are more closely involved with youth football.
From a South Melbourne point of view I can tell you that our youth team(s) are flying in their age groups with strong positions on the table most years in both girls and boys leagues. How much of that is down to development through the club I couldn't say and understand that, like the Aleague academies, a lot of poaching from state leagues would occur. I have watched  quite few games of our U21s and can tell you that Yianni Panakos fw, Sasha Murphy, and Mat Loutrakis df along with Jayden Illiovski am seem to be quite talented and have spent a bit of time in our youth system coming up the ranks. Ben Djiba also in defence is a starting 11 player, rock solid for a 21 year old is another youth product. Some noticeable South youth players you may know off the top of my head are 
Aijden Hrustic
Ange Postecoglou
MIchael Valkanis
Paddy Kisnorbo

BTW, as "relatively new" fan of the game I've gotta say you certainly have some fairly knowledgeable opinions.... I'm not one for compliments obviously but ... keep posting....

Its interesting because even since aleague are allowed to have academies we have seen some good work, not sure if the rating system the FFA had is still going but I would like to see it continue.

I would say Sydney FC are the best at the moment with plenty of youth international prospects whom some have gone overseas and to other aleague clubs also, WSW who have the best of the west especially when their academy is free of charge so I expect big things from them in the next few years given what we have seen some of them already in the aleague.

I think the biggest mover in this field will probably be Melb City with their huge investment in Dandenong and will expect in the next years to be a big influence in youth development in Australian football with the resources they got.

Not sure about the rest, Adelaide United rely on the old NTC/Skillaroo system that run via the state federation but they seem to bring through some very good young talent which is interesting and maybe shows a different of pathways that works.

The biggest disappointment is probably Melb Victory whom dont have many prospects coming through, they rely on talent from other states i.e Brooks who is from Queensland but they look quite behind in their academy and an investment with a lack of a good facility.

Curious who are best in the NPL though.

In the last round CCM played WU.

Lewis Miller, Dan Hall, Kye Rowles, Josh Nisbet,Gianni Stensness, Alou Kuol, Matt Hatch, Max Ballard and Jing Reec all played some part in the game. They are all Academy graduates or current Academy players. Matt Simon also came through Central Coast Lightning a forerunner of the Academy. Some were long term Academy players, others only there for a short time,   

WU also fielded Lachlan Wales who went through the CCM Academy.

Disagree that they've gone 'off the boil'. Courtney Perkins, Powell, Akbari, Dehmie, Parsons, Warshawsky are all good players that are either coming through or have come through. 

I think what’s interesting is that Brisbane seems to have gone off the boil. At one stage they were looking like a hotbed of talent that produced Kruse, Zullo, Oar and DeVere. 

One of my favourite NPL teams to watch purely because of the youth is Manly United, all of their teams seem to be able to move the ball so effortlessly, and many of the kids who come in don't look out of place and have very good technique. There must be something in the water up there. 

Another team I didn't mention is Adelaide Comets, who are doing great things with their youth system, With a stream of new players coming in each week.

Adelaide has to be up there, not only because of how many players have gone on to play A-League in recent season but also because the NPL side is just 1 point off of first place.

Sydney FC and Adelaide probably have the best academy teams at present. Sydney FC's is particularly impressive, given a lot of their team is 16-17 and they're competing in what is probably the best NPL comp in the country. Players like Segecic, Taylor, Girdwood-Reich, Hollman, Simmons, Priestmann, Calusic all play regularly and are 03/04 born. 
Adelaide's is also very good, especially considering the amount of players they have promoted to the first team. 
Manly United deserve a shout - a disproportionate number of Sydney FC's youth teamers come from Manly, and a lot of have been promoted to the AL squad (Wood, Nieuwenhof, van der Saag, Peupion, Hollman). 
Sydney United deserve plaudits - in recent years they've produced the likes of Michael Ruhs, Nicholas Bilokapic.
Western Sydney have a strong academy, and have produced a consistent stream of players who have become regular youth internationals and A-League players - Baccus, Natta, Aquilina, Russell, Wilmering etc. 
Melbourne City's Academy side is not so strong, but they have produced a lot of talent - Genreau, Pierias, Metcalfe, Atkinson, Duzel, Delianov, Arzani, Najjarine etc. But they poach a lot and they seem to be producing a slower stream of talent. 

All of this talk about Youth playing in the A-League this season, and just a general interest in youth development, got me thinking. 

Which clubs both A-League/NSL/NPL Have the best youth academies/teams?
Take into account amount of Socceroos/olyroos/joeys each academy has produced, or the most successful teams in each youth/NPL competitions.

Most notably, Sydney FC and Adelaide United recently have shown that their academies have been successful in different ways, But the majority of these kids start somewhere else.

Clubs like Manly United, Sydney United, Blacktown City, Croydon Kings, Adelaide City, Avondale FC, South Melbourne, ECU Joondalup, Western Pride, Lions FC, for me stand-out as seriously good clubs either in the past or currently as breeding grounds for top talent, I'm interested to hear what others think. 

I'm a relatively new football fan in the whole scheme of things, so don't know too much about the NSL days of youth development, but feel that that same culture and recipe is still there for some of these clubs.