MVFC Blog

Together with captain Kevin Muscat, Grant Brebner makes up Melbourne’s muscle in midfield. Like Muscat, Brebner has age and wisdom on his side, closing in on his thirtieth birthday this year. Since joining Melbourne at the start of last season, he has been a compelling presence, proving a vital lifeline to Victory strikers - one which was painfully lacking in the inaugural A League season.

Before he came to Melbourne, Brebner spent all of his professional career in the UK, with a 4 year posting at Manchester United in the mid-1990s setting off 12 years in which he appeared for 6 different teams, played over 240 games and netted 24 goals. Manchester United was a training ground: he never played for the English champions during his time there. Reading, Hibernian (his home town team) and Dundee United were more appreciative. Reading in particular enjoyed one of the Scot’s best seasons, in which he scored 10 goals in 41 matches.

Brebner also played for the Scottish Under 21s team, though he has never appeared for his country’s senior team.

Before signing with the Victory last year, Brebner played for Melbourne on a trial basis in two matches. During the first of these, a match against the Central Coast Mariners, he helped Melbourne to a penalty shoot-out win - first by getting the 2-2 equaliser in the dying minutes and then by scoring the winning penalty. Not bad. Merrick thought so, saying:

“There’s not too much more you can do when you’re on trial than come in and win the game, is there?”

During his first season with Melbourne, Brebner was a permanent fixture in the starting 11, starting 21 games (out of a total 24). His season may not have been characterised by the type of goal-scoring that made him a hit at Reading - he only managed a solitary goal, in a home fixture against the Perth Glory - but his attacking side underpinned what proved to be the A League’s most potent offence.

Grant Brebner brings the house down!

Read more about Brebner:

• Melbourne give Brebner a way out, 26 May, 2006, BBC Sport
• Grant on Wikipedia
• Profile on MelbourneVictory.com.au