Brett Emerton

Early career

Growing up in Macquarie Fields, Emerton first played for Gunners Soccer Club at Bensley Road as a five-year-old. He was nicknamed "the greyhound". During the following years he played for the Macarthur Rams.

Sydney Olympic

Emerton was a product of the Australian Institute of Sport and started his career with Sydney Olympic in the National Soccer League in August 1996. During his stay at the club he impressed widely with his pace and stamina, as much as his play with the ball. After making 94 appearances and scoring 16 goals. Emerton began to be noticed in Europe.

Feyenoord

After captaining the Olyroos at the Sydney Olympics, Emerton joined Feyenoord in August 2000 for a fee of £415,000. He won a UEFA Cup winners medal in May 2002 (although Emerton himself was banned for the final) and being named the 2002 Oceania Footballer of the Year. He made a total of 111 league and cup appearances for Feyenoord, scoring eleven goals.

Blackburn Rovers

After being linked with several Premiership teams, Emerton eventually joined Blackburn Rovers in July 2003 for an undisclosed fee, on a four-year contract, saying, "I've always dreamed of playing in the Premiership so to finally achieve it is great." He turned down offers from other clubs so that he could play in his preferred position on the wing. He scored on his debut in a 5–1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in August 2003. Manager Graeme Souness said of him: "Emerton is a top player.…

Able to play as a wide midfielder or defender, Emerton was known for his "speed, ball control and creativity."

Club

International

Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Emerton goal.

Emerton was captain of the "Olyroos", Australia's Olympic soccer team, at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he was sent off against Nigeria as Australia were beaten 3–2 and went out of the tournament. He was named in the Australia squad for the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup held in South Korea and Japan and made the starting line-up in a shock win over France and a defeat by South Korea as Australia qualified from the Group stages. Emerton was a member of the Australian national team that lost out on the final place in the 2002 World Cup finals in Korea and Japan when Uruguay beat Australia over two legs in November 2001. He played in the team that comprehensively beat England 3–1 at the Boleyn Ground in February 2003, scoring the final goal to seal an impressive win. Emerton played in both legs of World Cup play-off against Uruguay in November 2005, when the Socceroos qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, the first time that Australia had reached the finals of the World Cup since 1974, and was named in the Australian squad for the World Cup finals. He was in the starting line-up for all three Group Stage games against Japan, Brazil and Croatia as Australia qualified for the second round. However, he received two yellow cards against Croatia, was sent off in the 87th minute and subsequently missed the Socceroos' second round match against Italy. Emerton scored two goals against Qatar in Australia's fourth match of World Cup Qualification for the 2010 FIFA…