Inside A-League academy's historic NPL promotion

Sunday’s celebrations were unforgettable. It marked the first time Melbourne City’s senior academy have been promoted to NPLM VIC but it was the result of a long-term focus.

The historic feat was led by Italian great Alessandro Diamanti and secured by goalkeeping sensation Lachie Charles in a thrilling VPL1 promotion play-off. The teenager produced an extraordinary performance – saving three successive penalties as City outlasted 10-man Brunswick 3-1 in a shoot-out at Lakeside Stadium after it finished 2-2 following extra time.

Teenage “role model” Ryan Kalms scored twice for City but Brunswick rallied to force extra time following a 90th-minute equaliser. That set the stage for Charles – the fourth player to progress through City’s entire Player Development Pathway, following in the footsteps of Jayden Necovski, Peter Antoniou, and Lawrence Wong after signing his first professional contract last season – to step up and take centre stage.

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City’s academy has had great success over the years, providing a pathway for emerging talent into the A-Leagues and beyond.

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Over the weekend, the program soared to new heights and achieved promotion with an average age of 16.9 years across the two play-off fixtures. To put it into context, City’s senior academy were playing in Victoria’s third tier three years ago. Now, they will be going head-to-head with some of NPL’s biggest and most storied clubs – from current champions Heidelberg United to South Melbourne and Avondale FC.

It also highlighted the club’s next generation and the work of former Serie A star Diamanti – regarded as one of the Isuzu UTE A-League’s finest imports, and assistant coach Stuart McDonald.

“A huge credit to Alessandro, Stuart and the wider support staff who have done an unbelievable job in allowing the players to truly believe they could achieve something pretty special,” senior academy manager Simon Zappia told aleagues.com.au.

“Whilst there’s a lot of work that goes into the technical, physical and tactical elements of the game it’s the mentality and belief Ale and his team have installed that have ultimately allowed for such a young group to have this kind of success.

“We’ve seen some players really take giant strides in their development this season with many now fully integrated in our Isuzu UTE A-League set up and ready to perform.”

You just have to look at the triumphant penalty shoot-out against Brunswick.

The first player to take a spot-kick for Melbourne City? Thomas Nasso, who only turned 15 last month.

He is part of a young cohort starring in 2025.

During a storied career, Diamanti played for managers like legendary Italian Marcelo Lippi, Gian Piero Gasperini, Stefano Pioli, Vincenzo Montella and Cesare Prandelli.

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And the 42-year-old – who is taking his first steps in coaching after retiring in 2023 – is bringing plenty of experience and energy to City’s academy.

Beckham Baker has signed a professional deal with the Isuzu UTE A-League champions, while other young guns have emerged to flourished under Diamanti’s guidance.

From captain Marcus Humbert, Joeys striker Luke Becvinovski and Akeem Gerald, to Julian Recchia, Roland Ballah, Ahmed Faraz Gulzari and Aaron Cartwright among others.

Over the course of the 2025 campaign, City had an average age of 18.2 – the lowest since 2021.

“To highlight any individual is difficult given the collective team effort, we’ve used 46 players in our youth team this season and they’ve all played their part,” Zappia added.

“Our focus has always been on long-term player development. The journey to get this point has been a culmination of four to five years of hard work from all of our academy staff.