U19 & U17 prepare for new season
Academy news:
1. FC Union Berlin's two oldest youth teams are preparing intensively for the new Bundesliga season. The U19s and U17s went through their paces in Bavaria at the weekend and put themselves up against credible opponents. The league start is already fixed for August 11 and 12, 2018.
U19: Union's oldest side lost 4-2 to FC Augsburg on Saturday before winning against SpVgg Unterhaching by three goals to zero. The matches were formatted as two halfs of 30 minutes. Afterwards, the team went to a one-week training camp in Austria and will conclude the trip with a match against Wacker Burghausen on Saturday July 28.
Off the back of their first-ever season in the Bundesliga, the U19s ended the season on a plus with a win against VfL Wolfsburg. A safe, mid-table position was the target and that was achieved with an 11th-placed ranking in May. This season, responsibilites will fall to coach Willi Weiße, alongside assistant coaches Toni Mandl and Daniel Schulz.
This campaign's squad will be made up by those who were in the younger bracket of the U19 team last season. Just six went up to the adult category due to their age, while the older U17 talents will join up with Weiße's squad.
Click here to find the 2018/19 Bundesliga schedule
U17: Our U17 squad also travelled to Bavaria for some extra warm weather training, taking part in the SSG Cup, hosted by FC Moosinning. Union finished the group in third and didn't qualify for the latter stages. However there was no shame in losing to some of the stronger clubs in the south, including Bayern Munich, Greuther Fürth and Augsburg. The U17s will play again on July 28 with a meeting against Zaglebie Lubin from Poland.
Head coach Andre Vilk takes charge of the side, replacing Hermann Andreev who will instead take over the U15 team this season. Vilk will be joined by Orset Shala who was one of the assistant coaches at this level last year. His squad will be made up of last year's U16 crop who are switching from Regionalliga to Bundesliga.
