ILLAWARRA PREMIER LEAGUE
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Former Socceroo Scott Chipperfield will return for Tarrawanna today, two decades after leading the Blueys to a Conference League grand final win.
The return has been 12 months in the making for Chipperfield and his junior club, after the winger was unable to link-up with Tarrawanna at the same time last season.
While a calf injury is expected to keep Chipperfield to a reduced role in the Blueys' game against Coniston Lions, his return remains one of the biggest stories in the Illawarra Premier League's history.
In what is expected to be a six-to-seven game stint for the fifth-placed side, the laconic Chipperfield set himself modest ambitions.
"I just want to keep fit, obviously there is a lot of family and friends here that are keen to come and watch the games," Chipperfield told the Mercury yesterday.
"I am not here to win every game, I am 38 soon so I don't have those high expectations of what I am going to do.
"Hopefully we can win all seven games though."
The former FC Basel star arrived in the country only in the early hours of Thursday morning, immediately settling back into life at his old club.
After attending Tarrawanna's training session on Thursday night, Chipperfield was impressed with what he saw.
"There are a couple of good players here, it's a pretty young side now," he said. "The whole team I was quite impressed with the standard at training.
"When I was here 20 years ago I don't think the standard was as good as it is now, I think it has improved a lot more. Hopefully I can come in and help them out, but they are playing well enough as it is."
Currently well placed in the league, Tarrawanna will try to enhance Chipperfield's brief stay with a deep Cup run.
The club is already in the semi-final stages of the Bert Bampton Cup, with a potential grand final match against Dapto Dandaloo and Chipperfield's former Wollongong Wolves teammates Sasho Petrovski and Alvin Ceccoli, still a possibility.
Chipperfield is scheduled to return to Switzerland after Tarrawanna's Round 16 clash with Fernhill.
But while Chipperfield's two children and playing commitments are likely to keep him in overseas for the near future, he refused to rule out another cameo for Tarrawanna down the track.
"I am going to play one more season [in Switzerland] and do my coaching diploma in September," Chipperfield said.
"I just take it year by year now, I am not getting any younger."