Litfin on rise with Phoenix
LOCAL product Ben Litfin’s outstanding NPL Queensland season has been rewarded with an A-League contract with Wellington Phoenix.
The 21-year-old Gold Coast City striker signed a one-year deal on Thursday and leaves Australia on Monday to begin a new life in soccer.
“I’m very excited, I can’t wait to get over there,” Litfin said. “I’m going on Monday and I’ll have my first training session on the Wednesday.”
Phoenix officials had been keeping an eye on Litfin during the NPL Queensland this season and made contact with him a fortnight ago.
“I trialled and trained with them at the end of the NPL season and they told me they were impressed,” Litfin said. “I’m pretty confident I can make the grade in A-League with the way I’m playing. I have a one-year contract with the option of a second if I play enough games.”
Litfin was the NPL’s season leading goalscorer with 19.
A Musgrave Mustangs junior, Litfin originally played NPL with QAS, then was a member of Brisbane Roar’s youth team in the NPL until 2015.
Towards the end of that season he switched to Palm Beach Sharks (now Gold Coast City).
“City is definitely my club if I even come back because I’m incredibly proud of being a part of the club’s inaugural season under that name,” Litfin said.
His departure for New Zealand is the second key attacker lost by City, who had Rhys Saunders accept an offer from a US college shortly before the NPL finals this year.