Mark Bridge

Born in Blacktown and raised in St Clair, Mark played his junior football with Parramatta Eagles before starting his professional career with Parramatta Power in the National Soccer League. Joining the Newcastle Jets in the inaugural Hyundai A-League season the attacker spent three seasons in the Hunter, winning the club’s Player of the Season award in 2006/07 before scoring the winner in the Grand Final the next year. After his success at Newcastle, Mark moved to Sydney FC where he won the Premiership and Championship in 2009/10, once again scoring in the Grand Final. Mark’s form with Sydney was rewarded when he made his Socceroos debut against Singapore on 22 March 2008. He also went on loan briefly to Chinese Super League club Tianjin Teda to help with their 2009 AFC Champions League campaign. Following the creation of the Wanderers, the local boy decided to return home and was announced as a Wanderers Foundation Player on 30 June 2012. Making his debut in the Wanderers first ever game, Mark scored the club’s first ever goal against Brisbane Roar in Round Four of the 2012/13 season on his way to winning the Wanderers Player of the Year and Golden Boot awards. The next two seasons saw Mark add to his impressive trophy cabinet with another Grand Final appearance in the 2013/14 Hyundai A-League before winning the AFC Champions League in 2014. His individual form took an even bigger boost in the 2015/16 season when Mark, having overcome injury in the early rounds, returned to find his goal scoring boots, at one stage scoring five goals in a four game stretch as he scored nine goals and claimed eight assists in an incredible season that saw him win his second Wanderers Medal for Player of the Year. It was announced on 27 May 2016 that Mark Bridge had departed the Wanderers to join Thai outfit Chiangrai United. Over a year later, Mark Bridge would return to where it all started, signing a two-year contract on 18 July 2017 with the Western Sydney Wanderers.