Behind every great sporting moment is a story the fan doesn’t see.
For Ben Garuccio, as he celebrated sending Sydney FC into a Grand Final with the clutch final spot kick in a penalty shootout against Newcastle, it was the climax in a season that almost never happened.
It was unbridled joy – almost unfathomable 10 months ago, where he started the campaign “as a shell of a human”.
In September last year, Garuccio thought it was time to start calling NPL clubs.
That’s how bleak it was for a two-time Championship winner, looking for his next option after Western United’s demise.
He was their captain, a senior star and in his prime at 30 years of age – but suddenly, almost looked trapped in Australian football’s Bermuda Triangle.
His good mate Stefan Mauk, his co-host on Football360’s Football Friends Podcast, recalls hearing the stress in his voice as they talked about his playing future, before Sydney FC stepped in late.
Now, heading to a Grand Final, he reflects with raw honesty and insight into the impact Western’s demise had on him, the human toll of football mismanagement, that he’s had to bounce back from to become a key part of Sydney FC’s run to the decider.
“It’s been, just a stressful 10 months ever since everything happened,” Garuccio reflected.
“Obviously I was out of contract as well with Western United.
“There was that thing that happened at the start.
“I got married last off season.
“I was in limbo with my contract and then I ended up re-signing with Western.
“At that time there were other A-League clubs that were quite interested and made offers, but I wanted to obviously stay at Western United being captain and I was comfortable there.
“Then when everything happened, at the start I was like, alright, it is what it is. I’m sure something will come up.
“I actually got to a stage where, yeah, there was nothing really on the table.
“I hadn’t heard from Sydney FC at this point and I was speaking with Avondale.
“I actually started just calling some A-League clubs because I was like, man, this is actually my career.
“It got to that stage where I was thinking, this is actually my career and it could be done.
“Number one, I wasn’t prepared for it to be done. So it’s not like I was ready to finish my career and go into something else.
“Number two, in my mind and in my heart and my body, I didn’t feel like I was done as a professional. I feel like I’m still playing probably at the highest level that I have of my career. And I feel like I’ve got a lot to give. So I was not really happy with that, but that’s the way it was looking.
“So I started calling A-League clubs and called Adelaide, I called Macarthur and they were kind of just like, nah, yeah, just no, we either can’t offer you, we’ve got a player in your position.
“It was basically hearing the same thing over and over again and I was sitting there going, how the f* am I in this position?
“It just didn’t feel fair, didn’t feel real that that was happening. And I’m sure other players, my Western teammates were having the same thing happen to them.
“Some of those boys didn’t even end up getting contracts. So I can’t imagine how it would have been for them. I suppose the only silver lining for me is that Sydney came in.
“I think if you speak to a lot of the boys on my team, probably for the first six weeks, eight weeks, I came in with an injury, which again, wasn’t ideal, I wasn’t with the boys, I wasn’t able to integrate with the team and like a lot of them.”
He got injured immediately – even though he was trying to stay fit he hadn’t been in a day to day professional sporting environment for nearly two months. They can “take the piss out of me now” – but at the start, it wasn’t pretty.
“A lot of the boys, they always take the piss out of me now. They were like, you were in depression, you were absolutely depressed,” he continued.
“You were a shell of a human when you got here.
“I felt like that. I felt like my life had been turned upside down. I felt like, what was I doing?
Former Sydney coach Ufuk Talay presenting Ben Garuccio with his jersey ahead of the season.
“I would wake up in the morning and be like, what the f* am I, how am I here? How am I living in Sydney? It didn’t feel real, it didn’t feel right.
“It probably wasn’t until I actually did get fit and played my first game and, it’s crazy the way football works. I suppose the trials and tribulations that you go through and the ups and downs and it’s full of them. And I’m sure a million other players have got stories that are probably a lot worse than this. But yeah, I guess looking back now, how you can go through such a bad period and then sometimes there’s a reason for things happening.
“It can sometimes be cruel and sometimes you don’t realise it straight away, but maybe in the long run you can look back.
“I’ve had a few people from Western that have messaged me saying what a crazy year, but now what an opportunity you have and who knows, maybe we wouldn’t have been in this position if Western stayed, maybe we didn’t make finals and maybe we didn’t make a grand final and now I’ve got an opportunity to win something else.
“A crazy kind of year and I’m just grateful that my body’s been fit and obviously grateful for Sydney FC and the club and the team here because yeah, I’ve said it all along, we’ve got a good team, we’ve got one of the best squads and if we click, we can go all the way and I suppose we’re one game away now. So let’s see.”
Sydney FC celebrate making the Grand Final. Photo: Getty Images
Mauk replied: “Fair play. Like you said, a lot of people go through worse. We’re not saying that you’re living on the streets, you’re not struggling to earn a dollar, but in football terms, this is your world, this is your life.
“(That’s why I was saying at the time): what are you talking about going back to NPL? It shouldn’t even be a thought, but that’s just the way it was like in that moment for you and you’re too good of a player, you’re too good of a professional and that’s the reason why things have turned out the way they have for you.”