Benjamin Garuccio (born 15 June 1995) is an Australian professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for Western United in the

A-league A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

. Born in Adelaide, Garuccio played youth football at the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

before making his professional debut for

Melbourne Heart Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in the South-Eastern Metropolitan Region, South-Eastern region of Melbourne, Victoria. They compete in the A-League Men, the Australian soccer ...

. In 2016, he moved back to Adelaide to play for

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...

. Garuccio signed for Scottish club Hearts in May 2018. He returned to Australia in October 2020 with Melbourne City. Garuccio represented the Australian under-20 side on many occasions.

Career

Melbourne Heart

On 19 September 2012, Garuccio signed for

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

side

, who have since been rebranded as Melbourne City.

Adelaide United

On 16 June 2016, Garuccio returned to his hometown, signing a 2-year contract with

Heart of Midlothian

Garuccio signed a pre-contract agreement with

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club Hearts in May 2018. He scored his first goal for Hearts in a 5–0 win against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on 29 July 2018, with a 25-yard free-kick.

Melbourne City

Garuccio returned to Australia in October 2020, signing for Melbourne City.

Western United

In July 2021, Garuccio secured a mutual termination of contract with Melbourne City, so he could join rival Melbourne club Western United.

Career statistics

Honours

;Melbourne City *

Premiership: 2020–21 *

Championship: 2020–21 ;Western United *

A-League Men A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football, soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as ...

Championship: 2021–22 ;Individual * A-Leagues All Star:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

* PFA A-League Men Team of the Season: 2021–22

References

External links

* * * 1995 births Living people Australian people of Italian descent Sportspeople of Italian descent Australian men's soccer players Soccer players from Adelaide Men's association football defenders Australian Institute of Sport soccer players A-League Men players A-League Men All-Stars Melbourne City FC players Adelaide United FC players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Western United FC players Australia men's under-20 international soccer players Australian expatriate men's soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Scottish Professional Football League players 21st-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-footy-defender-stub