Leigh Griffiths relishing chance to get back to enjoying football and life in Mandurah

Leigh Griffiths fits that criteria having scored 123 goals and lifted 14 major trophies for Celtic, one of the biggest football clubs in the world; not to mention he also scored 39 goals for Hibernian, another massive Scottish club, and won 22 international caps for his nation.

Only 32 years old, Griffiths could have continued his career in Britain, however he turned down opportunities to stay close to home, and his children, in order to find the perfect balance between happiness in his football and contentment in his personal life, which he said was of far more importance to him now.

"It's about Leigh finding Leigh," the lethal striker said of his decision to return to Mandurah City for a full season following his shock two-game stint with the Football West State League club last year.

"We're not going to be training every single day so it's a case of 'what can Leigh Griffiths get up to?'

"Speaking to John (Baird) there's going to be opportunities to stick into football and coaching. That's an avenue I want to get into. It's come along quicker than planned but I'm looking forward to it.

"First and foremost it's about the football opportunity to get back playing, get back to putting a smile on my face. Keeping in touch with John during the period I was away, and some of the boys as well, was a massive factor in my coming back."

Turning out for two of the biggest clubs in Scotland has been both a blessing and a curse; for every Celtic and Hibs fan who loves Griffiths, there's a Rangers and Hearts fan who hates him just as much.

Netting twice against the 'Auld Enemy' England, in a World Cup qualifier in June 2017, might have brought brief respite from the vitriol, as all Scots are bonded by their resentment for the Sassenach, but Griffiths said the "limelight is only good when it's on you for the right reasons".

Metropolitan Glasgow has a population of more than 1.8 million people, while metropolitan Edinburgh has more than 900,000 people - a lot of limelight, and a lot of sets of eyeballs who, for the most part, are 'fitba' mad and absolutely nailed on fans of their teams.

Mandurah, on the other hand, has nearly 108,000 residents, and soccer is undoubtedly the least high profile of the four prominent football codes in Australia; suffice to say earning his living in a sunny coastal Western Australian city won't come with the same landmines as turning out in green and white in Scotland.

"I'm not going to be pestered all the time, I'm not going to be having people shout stuff to me in the street - it might happen now and again with some Scots here - but nine times out of 10 I can go to dinner, I can go do stuff and just be a number and not a face anymore. For me that's the most important thing," Griffiths said.

"I loved my time at Celtic, I had eight glorious years there, it was brilliant, but when you play for one half of the city in Edinburgh (Hibernian) and one half of the city in Glasgow (Celtic) you're going to have opposition fans that won't like you.

"That's part and parcel (of playing for those clubs) and I've had that for the best part of 12 years now. It's something I got used to, but when you're trying to take your kids out for dinner or walk around the shops and people are videoing you and stuff like that, it's not enjoyable anymore.

"I can walk around the shops here and I'm just a number, I'm not a 'face'.

"I'm going to let my football do the talking. JB will be the gaffer behind me keeping me right, but my main focus is making sure Mandurah do well this season."

Baird, for his part, doesn't have outrageous expectations for his fellow Scot - he just wants to see the smile return to his friend's face.

"All I want for Leigh is for him to enjoy his life, that's it," Baird said.

"I saw the happiness in this boy when he sat in a restaurant here last year and nothing happened.

"First and foremost, as a friend, I'm just looking forward to him having happiness in his life. On the football pitch, that's up to Leigh."

On the pitch is where Griffiths excels, and it's where he wants to be "appreciated again as one of the main factors", but he also realises his high profile means there's a target alongside the number 8 on his back.

"There was a target on my back every single week regardless of who I was playing against back in Scotland. I have no doubt in my mind that I'm going to be a target here," he said.

"I'm not going to get involved in anything off the pitch. I think players will try and come and wind me up, but I've experienced and heard a lot.

"There'll be nothing that can be said to me on a pitch that I haven't experienced to my face already. To me, that's water off a duck's back now.

"I don't need to make an impression on anyone, I know what I've done, I know what I'm capable of. It's not about me trying to stop them, it's them trying to stop me."

"My god man," Baird chipped in, "those eight years at Celtic he won 14 trophies and won international caps for Scotland! He played in the Champions League and scored goals against Barcelona.

"Anybody shouting abuse is just jealous. That's it, just full of jealousy. Bring it on, as they say."

"I've not played since my last game here in September so I'm looking forward to pulling the boots on and Saturday and a massive game," Griffiths said.

"I'm not walking into a dressing room where I don't know people. There's a couple of new boys who've come in this season, but most of the lads I've kept in touch with and knew I was coming back and I'm looking forward to being back with them.

"The opportunity to come back here I'm going to take with both hands. I wasn't involved in the Top Four Cup final last season, although I was one of the coaches at the side, which I was grateful to John to give me that part.

"The (Night Series) final on Saturday will be a great occasion for everybody involved... (after that I'm) just looking forward to this season. We finished the season really strongly last year and we're hoping to go one better this year by making sure we're league champions plus winning the Top Four Cup."

There is a lot of soccer to be played between now and when the trophies are handed out by Football West, but with a man among their ranks who has found the back of the net 241 times across a 16-year career - 11 of those years at the top level - you wouldn't bet against City lifting those cups come the spring time.

If nothing else, local soccer fans should embrace the opportunity they've been given to "find Leigh", a highly-talented and highly-decorated player, at such close quarters.

There's rarely been a player of Griffiths' quality in Australian soccer, let alone WA soccer.