Out of contract at Sydney and with a window before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Mark Milligan spent the middle of last year attempting to realise his European football dream.

What transpired was a series of trials at various European clubs, an underwhelming Olyroo campaign before a return to the A-League to join struggling reigning champions Newcastle Jets in October.

Just two months prior to inking the Jets deal, Milligan had retorted of his European exploits and rumors of a humbling A-League return: "I've had a taste of [English football] with trials and I love it, so I'm definitely staying". The quoted word can become a cruel chastisement.

Reports of Milligan's European whereabouts and speculation of his impending return dragged for months before the Jets deal was sealed. FourFourTwo grabbed some time with Milligan to put the record straight on why the man who left it all behind is back where he started.

"When I left Sydney, I just wanted to go over to Europe and see how I fared," Milligan said. "I went over with the intentions of being at a club I would want to be at and I only wanted to play in certain places. I don't have that much interest in playing in Belgium, Switzerland or Sweden. I love it here, the A-League has been great to me and I wanted to aim high, but I knew I'd have a home in the A-League somewhere. Obviously things didn't work out as I would have loved to seal something out there."

It is strange to hear such bold A-League endorsements from a player who jilted hometown club Sydney FC in 2007 by going AWOL. Milligan's European desires were burning long before last year, with Sydney and the Olyroos the public auditions.

 With a constant flow of contradicting speculation on local shores, Milligan showcased his talent at three European clubs, including two of the English Premiership's biggest outfits.

"I went to Man City and Arsenal, then Werder Bremen. I also trained with Fulham, but just to get fit. The first place I went to was City and that went really well, but unfortunately Sven [Goran Eriksson] got the sack, so it got put on hold. I then went to Arsenal and I was with them for a week, but they keep me waiting a lot on a final decision on what was going to happen."

Despite it being brief, Milligan was given a taste of first-team coaching at the EPL's highest level.

"Man City and Arsenal were both unbelievable to train with. What impressed me was how much hands-on work the coaches actually do. They are very involved with their players and very accepting of me, and very helpful on and off the field.

"They were very happy with me and they are still helping me out with references, but there was the visa situation and me only being there for a short amount of time. But the experience for me helped. I only had limited time, with two days before going to the Olympics. They showed a lot of interest and were in contact with me throughout the Olympics, but then the new owner came in and it was a case that they simply had bigger fish to fry.

"Training with the Premiership players was great and playing with Cesc Fabregas at Arsenal was unbelievable. It must have been my lucky week as every time a team was picked, I seemed to be on his team. Man City also have a lot of young players coming through. It was an amazing experience."

After his brief stint at Arsenal, Milligan travelled to Beijing for a disappointing Olympics campaign. Once all the events of Beijing were done and dusted, Milligan thought his Euro aspirations were too.

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"After the Olympics I was packing my bags to fly back to Australia, when Pim Verbeek called me to play in the South Africa game in London and when I was there, there was a fair bit of interest from Werder Bremen in Germany. So I had a couple of weeks training with Fulham before heading over there.

"Bremen asked for me to stay for another five weeks while they sorted something out, but I made the decision that I needed to start playing again. I couldn't continue just training - more for my sanity than anything else. I'd given it a go, obviously things didn't work out so I needed to be smart about things and come home."

Another obstacle to Milligan's plans was the work permit situation. As a full-blooded Aussie, Milligan had no easy access to European working rights.

"The passport situation does make things very difficult and as a footballer how much time can you take out of actually playing and being on the field? I only missed eight games of the A-League, but that is a lot of games to miss in football. It would have been too much of an uphill battle if I decided to stay that bit longer.

"The only real way to play in Europe is getting my international caps up, but in order for me to get my caps back up I need to be playing regularly, and I'm very lucky that there is still a lot of qualifiers to go and a lot of them are based in Australia. Hopefully if the boys qualify early then more and more A-League boys will be involved. At the moment I'm just putting my head down and focusing on each week as it comes.

"Pim has shown a lot of loyalty to A-League players and is giving them a chance. Pim's very open-minded like that and he won't just dismiss players based on where they are playing. There are a lot of games coming up where it will be difficult for the European boys to be involved in, so the A-League boys will get their chance to prove themselves, we just need to take that chance with both hands."

Milligan admitted he had acknowledged the passport difficulties prior to boarding a European-bound plane, but felt there was little to lose at the time when a decision had to be made.

"It wasn't interfering contractually, because I was off contract, and with the Olympics it just seemed like a good time to keep myself ticking over and I thought it would be good preparation for the Beijing Olympics."

Milligan doesn't view his time in Europe as a wasted exercise and unsurprisingly felt the new surroundings have created a player with a refreshed approach to playing the game. He stressed the "different world" of European football.

"Australian football is heading in the right direction, but it still has nothing on England. Just the lifestyle they have over there and the intensity and the passion, not just from the players, but from people everywhere.

"To a degree it gave me that hunger back again to do well and succeed, whether that be in Australia or over there. Everybody in their careers, no matter what they do, has times when they question what they are doing. Being over there proved to me how much I love the game, how much the game has given to me and how much more I want to achieve."

Milligan, 23, afforded himself a philosophical approach to his botched Euro voyage and left the door ajar for another crack at the so-called "promised land".

"I went over there with a goal and I had expectations, but I knew my passport situation and the difficulties I would have even if I found a club who was interested in me. I went there with an open mind, but at the back of my mind I knew if it didn't work out, that I had every intention of coming home. 

"After being in Europe I don't think it's beyond me. Obviously every player aspires to play in Europe, but at the moment I'm just focusing on playing again and hopefully Pim recognises that and there will be another call up soon."

This article first appeared in the February 2009 issue of Australian FourFourTwo