In an instant, the professional football dreams of the Canberra teenager were on hold.

That's why, after 12 months of rehab, numerous operations and daily gym sessions, his comeback on Sunday had his parents crying for joy.

"For us, it was a complete disaster for our family because he went from being one of the best futsal players in Canberra, about to fly to Adelaide to trial for an A-League club, to having a crippled son," Patryk's father Radek Bylinski said.

"During that time, from the day he had his accident, he missed two weeks of gym, otherwise he was at the gym every single day, working on his upper body and working on his good leg.

"I used to go to the gym with him just to pass him his weights."

The left winger/striker made a successful return to the pitch for Tigers FC in their NPL under-20s game against Gungahlin United at Gungahlin Enclosed Oval, starting the game before being replaced after about an hour.

"It feels fantastic, words can't express the happiness that I feel, it's just ridiculous," Patryk Bylinski said.

"When I got told I did my ACL, I started crying and then when I got told I did everything else, I started laughing

"If you're going to do it once, do it properly."

The 17-year-old was on the radar of several A-League clubs for a spot in their youth teams last year.

Those aspirations were sidetracked when Bylinski was collected by a Tuggeranong United player in a pre-season match.

"He had his knee destroyed," Radek said.

"It wasn't a vicious foul, it was just an unfortunate incident.

"He had his ACL, PCL and meniscus all torn.

"His lower leg was only held by the skin and a few muscle tissues."

After having a knee reconstruction from orthopaedic surgeon Dr Paul Miniter, Bylinski worked tirelessly on his rehabilitation.

He attended school on crutches and didn't receive any special treatment.

That included working at Praga Cafe at the Dickson shops owned by his family before keeping himself in shape at the gym.

He would spend two to three hours a day continuing his recovery on a bike watching TV or playing FIFA on the Xbox.

In the next six months, the goal is to get Bylinski into an A-League youth team or return to Poland where the family migrated from in 2001.

Bylinski received plenty of support during his recovery, including taking advice from Melbourne City midfielder Steve Kuzmanovski.

Kuzmanovski spent time in Canberra at the AIS and was introduced to Bylinski through former Socceroo Andy Bernal.

"Every single day was a new challenge," Bylinski said.

"My goal of becoming a professional footballer is still there, but at the moment I've got to get back to where I was.

"Today was first game jitters, but I can't do anything about that. Next week will be a different story."