And he's the first to admit it, in his fullest, frankest interview ever.
 
"In football you probably have more lows than you do highs and you just have to learn to enjoy those high's because we are privileged to do what we do," he says.
 
"Sometimes players - and I have been a victim of that myself - take this opportunity to do what we love as a profession for granted.
 
"And I have been bitten on the backside for that as well."
 
Such as in 2009 when he saw his contract with Brisbane Roar immediately - and very publicly - terminated after his infamous DUI charge.
 
His explanation is simple and remorseful.
 
"I had gone to bed at 10.30pm after a few glasses of wine, woke up at 6am and was pulled over at 7." Frank explains. "I honestly could not believe I was over the limit.
 
"It was valuable lesson to me and hopefully others - that you can have a few drinks on a Friday night and take your kids to football or netball the next morning and still have alcohol in your system.
 
"And I paid dearly for my poor judgement - both personally and professionally."
Farina's lifestyle has been scrutinised - and criticised - by the media and football fans alike.  
 
At one point he even shared the cover of a newspaper as one of three villains - with Sylvester Stallone after his drug bust, and Jeff Fenech after his alleged theft.
 
"I felt the black mark through my name became so prominent that I wouldn't coach, or even be involved in the game again," he admits
 
The incident marred the career of a man whose contribution to Australian football - both as a player and coach - goes back over 30 years, when a 19 year old Frank Farina made his debut as a Socceroo.
 
"Everything in my career has happened very quickly for whatever reason, luck, being in the right place at the right time", he says.
 
"I went from never being picked for a Queensland representative side, to being 16 or 17 and getting a scholarship at the AIS.
 
"And before my 19th birthday, I was a Socceroo."
 
But while Frank was always very driven, he didn't always dream of being a professional footballer. After his parents split up, he found himself being 13 years old and living out of home.
 
"I learnt to be independent from a young age, and grew up very quickly," he recalls.
 
"The first time I thought of football as a profession was when I was playing for Mareeba (Far North Queensland) and after a game, they gave us $30 cash - despite the fact that we lost. And that's when I thought - maybe there is something in this."
 
The first six years of Frank's professional career based in Australia were hugely successful and saw him win NSL Player of the Year, Golden Boot and Oceania Player of the Year.
 
After cementing his spot in the National Team, an opportunity to play for a top club in Belgium came his way.
 
"I have always set goals and challenges and I was ready for a new one," Frank says. "I got on that plane excited. I thought to myself  'I have 60 caps! I've won this, I've won that.
 
"And reality set in because not only was it just a trial, but I was like a piece of crap over there."
 
Fortunately, Club Brugge did still sign the 24 year old Frank Farina and the striker spent three massively successful seasons there. The club won the title, Belgian Cup and Super Cup - and Frank was personally awarded Best Foreign Player and Golden Boot.
 
"Our time in Bruges was fantastic and was the best place for me to start, " he recalls. "It set me up to go play in Serie A - which at the time was the best competition in the world.
 
"No Australian had ever played there and as there were only three foreigners allowed on the books - it was a big thing."
 
But Frank's stint in Italy didn't pan out as well as he would have liked, with the move to a struggling team proving to be more difficult than the striker had anticipated.
 
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