The 2020/21 Bundesliga Nord/Nordost season commences for the U19s this weekend with a trip to Hamburg to face FC St. Pauli.

Saturday's 14:00 clash is the first league game for Union's youth team since March. Due to the outbreak of coronavirus, competitive action was curtailed in March and pre-season was slightly unusual for Andre Vilk's squad. The group travelled to Austria in July for summer training before returning to the capital to kick-off the Berlin Cup campaign. Union beat Tasmania 7-1 and Berliner SC 4-1 but went out of the competition to Viktoria Berlin. To get the squad ready for league business, Vilk's side faced Arminia Bielefeld in a pre-season match, winning 5-1. On Sunday, Bayern Munich ran out 3-1 winners against Union.

However, despite the defeat against the Bavarians, head coach Vilk looks positively upon the new season. "The boys have pulled through superbly and especially in the last two friendlies, we have seen some positive signs for the upcoming season."

After finishing fourth last season and earning qualification for the German Youth Cup, Union will compete in a slightly altered division this term. There will be 17 sides in action and just one round of fixtures against each side due to the congested schedule at the moment.