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'My football career has been ruined by injuries now I'm making money as myself on FIFA'

EXCLUSIVE: Mitch Austins football dream has been snatched away from him by injuries - but hes now having another shot, this time on his YouTube channel

[Pol Mikel Lirola Kosok of Juventus is pressured by Mitch Austin of the Melbourne Victory during the 2016 International Champions Cup Australia match between Melbourne Victory FC and Juventus FC at Melbourne Cricket Ground on July 23, 2016]

Mitch Austin played for several A-League sides including Melbourne Victory(Image: Getty Images)

Mitch Austin has regrets about his football career.

Son of Australian rugby great Greg, the left winger made his professional debut at Cambridge United before returning Down Under and enjoying successful spells in the A-League - even playing friendlies against the likes of Juventus and Atletico Madrid.

Now 33, he hasnt played for four years due to multiple injury issues. But unlike most players, hes got a second shot at righting the wrongs of the past - well, sort of.

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Austin has transitioned into an online content creator, making TikTok and YouTube videos based on his career, which hes now playing back through on the FIFA video game series, now known as EA Sports FC.

And it was actually his former club Melbourne Victory who originally pushed him in that direction upon the creation of the countrys Esports league. It was the first season for that and the club obviously knew I was into FIFA, Austin told Daily Star Sport.

Id done my ACL and the club basically said to me, oh, because you're injured, do you want to play in the Eleague? Because they didn't know anything about it.

[Mitch Austin playing as himself on FIFA]

Austin now plays as himself on FIFA for his YouTube channel(Image: YouTube/Mitch Austin)

He was flown weekly to compete in the tournament, which was broadcast to thousands on streaming service Twitch and Fox Sports. I felt more pressure playing in that than playing in the A-League at the time, Austin admitted.

Hes since pushed on with his own channels, racking up 80k YouTube subscribers and roughly five million likes on TikTok. One of his series is playing as himself on FIFA 17.

I try to give myself a better career than what I had, he explained. Im on 50 grand in the Bundesliga so its going well.

Hes also been able to make his virtual debut for Australia and play at the 2018 World Cup, something which never quite happened in reality despite being on Ange Postecoglous radar at the time.

[Mitch Austin in hospital]

Injuries have blighted his career(Image: Instagram/mitchaustin10)

Austin enjoyed solid stints at the Central Coast Mariners and with Victory, for whom he played against Juve and Atletico in pre-season friendlies - winning both games and being named man of the match versus the former.

Theyre moments he looks back fondly on, albeit also tinged with regret. He said: Playing in those games and obviously playing well kind of just made me realise I could have definitely played at a lot higher level, if I'd maybe kind of gone about things a bit differently.

I think I just never believed in myself enough when I was younger, when I needed to. If I had the mentality I had now back, when I was sort of 18 and it properly counted, I definitely think Id have got to a decent level.

[Mitch Austin on Fox Sports]

The 33-year-old became a part of the Esports scene during his lay offs(Image: Instagram/mitchaustin10)

Not saying I didn't get to a decent level, I think that the dream at one point was just to play a professional game. Just playing a game in League Two was the dream at the start.

I tell a lot of the young guys on the streams that's the main thing - just believing in yourself, which I think is difficult, especially for the younger guys when you're trying to break into first teams, its very intimidating.

Austin hasnt given up hope of a football comeback. He last played for Partick Thistle, making two appearances in Scotland before the pandemic struck and he returned to Australia.

[Emiliano Velazquez of Atletico de Madrid tackles Mitch Austin of the Victory during the match between Melbourne Victory and Atletico de Madrid at Simonds Stadium on July 31, 2016]

He's not yet retired, holding out hope of a return on the left wing(Image: Getty Images)

He underwent a double cartilage transplant on his knee, spending AUS$100,000 (52k) of his own money in a last-ditch attempt to recover. And an unfortunate car accident further set him back, meaning hes only recently been able to get back on the grass with a ball at his feet.

Im never going to rule anything out, he asserted. I know I'm obviously a lot older now. I had to get a donor transplant from a dead person, so I had to wait for somebody that was the same age as me to die to who was on the donor list.

The good thing is with the surgeon, he's never told me that 100% you can't go back and play on it. I'm sort of rehabbing it to come back and play and if it happens, it happens.

But I'm not going to be fully be like, yeah, I'm 110%' because I just don't fully know. I'm kind of rehabilitating it to come back and play and then we'll see how we go from there.

For now, Austin is focused on building his online profile, working with big brands such as Puma and major clubs like Borussia Dortmund. And hes moving back to England to be with his girlfriend and go all in on his live streams, becoming one of the first pro footballers to follow that path.

"I'm sort of in a lucky position, he concluded. I can kind of just kind of move and give it a shot. I'm excited to see how it all goes.

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