What the NPL NSW gave Glen Trifiro that professional football never could

Glen Trifiro always wanted to be a professional footballer – he dedicated everything to get there.

As the 34-year-old recently announced his retirement, Trifiro recalled many of his fondest memories, not while fulfilling his lifelong dream but during his time with Sydney United 58.

Trifiro began to take his pursuit of a career in football seriously once he got to High School and developed a strong love for the game, sometimes doing three or four sessions daily.

“I gave everything towards the game. I committed to it wholeheartedly, and that gave me some really key moments in my life,” Trifiro said.

The 34-year-old maestro had a bumpy ride to the top of the game, being overlooked for A-League squads throughout his youth.

He was disillusioned with others being given the opportunity, yet he continued to miss out, wondering if his big move would ever come.

As Trifiro entered his mid-20s, he seemed destined to fall short, as so many do in the game and would need to commit to another career path.

A switch in mentality changed everything.

“When I started making the most progress was when I committed to the level I was at,” Trifiro said.

“Maybe the A-League isn’t for me, or maybe it’s going to come to me a bit later. Right now, my focus has to be on performing at United.

“I kept being a footballer until I became a footballer. That old saying ‘fake it ‘till you make it’.”

The chance Trifiro craved finally came at 24 years old, signing for Central Coast Mariners following a series of impressive performances in the NPL NSW for United 58.

“That was just an achievement in itself because I waited so long and I worked so hard,” Trifiro said.

“I really committed to the pathway of becoming a professional footballer, and at 24 years old, when most would have stopped pursuing it, I was given an opportunity.”

After a two-year stint in Australia’s topflight, the midfielder decided to return to United 58.

Sydney United 58 and Trifiro will remain synonymous, winning everything there is to win together.

He said he could not imagine being involved with another club in the NPL NSW.

At the start of his career, a teenage Trifiro had struggled for minutes at Marconi Stallions but was handed a consistent first-team run under former Socceroo star Ante Milicic after moving to United 58.

He said he has felt indebted since he joined at 18, giving all he can for the club that spring boarded him to his life goal.

“What that did for me and that opportunity that Ante gave me, and the club believed that it was the right move for Ante to play me, and they supported him; I don’t believe many other clubs would have done that for me,” Trifiro said.

“The belief that they showed in me, I constantly wanted to prove that I belonged and because I had so much respect for the opportunity they gave me, I did more than I needed to do.”

Trifiro’s impressive cabinet boasts two NPL NSW premierships, a championship and two Waratah Cups, but what stands out to him is something he does not have a trophy to show for.

Sydney United 58 etched themselves into Australian football folklore when they defied all odds to contest the 2022 Australia Cup final against Macarthur FC.

They downed at-the-time reigning A-League champions Western United before stunning Brisbane Roar, courtesy of some Trifiro magic to make the big dance.

Trifiro remembers the 2022 Cup final with great pride, being considered one of United 58’s star players heading into the Macarthur FC showdown.

“The thing you miss most about professional football is the event of the game,” Trifiro said.

“It’s the people turning up, the atmosphere, the vibe, and the feeling. People dedicating their week and looking forward to that game.

“What I always wanted to achieve was to feel that at a level where I’m a really key player.

“I was still pushing through and getting involved in the A-League when I was at the Mariners. I wasn’t really a top player in the league.

“But that was what I was at United and to play a big game, knowing that they relied on you and you needed to turn up.

“You had 15,000 or whatever people that turned up to that game, and 80-90% were from United.

“That’s where the club deserves to be, and everyone really bought into that, and you will never replicate that feeling.

“I don’t feel I had that feeling in the A-League; I don’t feel like anyone will ever have that feeling again in the state league because I don’t know if people will accomplish that.”

What made that occasion memorable for Trifiro transcended who lifted the trophy – it exemplified what the game can offer those who commit themselves to it.

“We went into Macarthur, the final, really believing we could win. We should never have thought that way,” he said.

“For the quality that we lacked to compete at an A-League level, we had it in abundance when it came to our relationships with our teammates.

“When I was a professional footballer in the A-League, there was such a routine of being a professional footballer because that’s what you were.

“The Cup final, I worked in the morning for four hours, and then I went to the game.

“The day before the game, we had boys on the job site. It was comical that we could do this as part-time players. I think you give a bit more effort because of that.”

Many footballers dream of being their team’s star player on the big stage, whether scoring the winning goal or producing the match-winning save to a chorus of roaring, adoring fans.

The Cup final presented Trifiro with that importance in football he had always wanted, materialising in a way he could not have imagined at the beginning of his career.

Feature by Timothy Gibson, on Twitter @Timg123_