Mark Robert Bridge (born 7 November 1985) is an Australian professional

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

player who plays as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

for NPL club

Mounties Wanderers Mounties Wanderers FC is a professional soccer club based in Mount Pritchard, New South Wales, Australia. They currently play in the NSW League One (formerly National Premier Leagues NSW 2) competition after being promoted at the conclusion of ...

. Bridge is the Western Sydney Wanderers' first ever goalscorer, earning himself the nickname 'King Bridge' among fans. On 18 April 2015 in the 26th-round match against Adelaide United, Bridge became the ninth player to reach 200

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competit ...

games.http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/football/western-sydneys-mark-bridge-racks-up-200-game-milestone/story-fn63e0vj-1227308604364"

Club career

Newcastle Jets

Bridge joined Newcastle from Parramatta Power in 2005 during the inaugural

season. Although it took some time for Bridge to find his feet he was the Jets best player during his second season (2006/07) at the club scoring 8 goals during the season. Although his third season with the Jets only yielded four goals, his last for the Jets was the most decisive, being the only goal in the 2008 A-League Grand Final.

Sydney FC

As his contract had expired at the Jets, Bridge subsequently left the team and was unveiled as a Sydney FC player on 3 March 2008 alongside Simon Colosimo and John Aloisi. He scored his first goal for Sydney in their 5–2 demolition of Perth Glory at the

Sydney Football Stadium The Sydney Football Stadium, commercially known as Allianz Stadium and previously Aussie Stadium, was a football stadium in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia. Built in 1988 next to the Sydney Cricket Ground, the stadium was Sydney's premier rect ...

. On 11 February 2009, Bridge arrived Kunming, Yunnan province, China, meet with Tianjin TEDA. He signed a four-month loan deal for Chinese Super League club Tianjin Teda during the offseason with Sydney FC. However, Tianjin's failure to qualify from the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

of the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

meant that he had made the last appearance for the club and would return to Sydney FC at the end of May. He became the first player to score in two A-League Grand finals with his headed goal against Melbourne Victory in the 09-10 edition, which Sydney went on to win on penalties Bridge scored the third goal in the 3–2 victory of Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua, during the

2011 AFC Champions League The 2011 AFC Champions League was the 30th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 9th under the current AFC Champions League title. The winners, Al-Sadd qualified for ...

keeping Sydney's chances of progressing through to the next round alive. Bridge was sent from the field after being given a red card in the opening game of the 2011–12 A-League season against Melbourne Victory, following an altercation in which Bridge struck Victory player Rodrigo Vargas in the throat. The match would finish 0–0. Bridge asked for and received a mutual termination of his Sydney FC contract on 1 June 2012.

Western Sydney Wanderers

On 30 June 2012 it was officially announced he had joined the newly formed Western Sydney Wanderers club. On 27 October 2012 Bridge scored the first ever A-League goal for the Western Sydney Wanderers, against Brisbane Roar in the Wanderers fourth game of their inaugural season. Bridge scored the Wanderers' first ever hat-trick in the round 16 6–1 thrashing of Adelaide United in their inaugural season. Bridge was also the Wanderers' top goalscorer for the 2012–13 A-League season with 11 goals. Bridge is also the club's all-time top goalscorer.

Chiangrai United

On 27 May 2016, after 4 seasons with the Western Sydney Wanderers, Bridge left the club to join Thai Premier League club

Chiangrai United Chiangrai United Football Club (Thai: สโมสรฟุตบอลเชียงราย ยูไนเต็ด) is a professional Football Club based in Chiangrai Province. The club plays in the Thai League 1. The club is also known ...

. On 6 July 2017, Bridge terminated his contract with Chiangrai United.

Return to Western Sydney Wanderers

In July 2017, Bridge returned to Western Sydney Wanderers on a two-year contract.

Mounties Wanderers FC

On 12 March 2019, Bridge signed for National Premier Leagues NSW 2 side Mounties Wanderers FC. Bridge is set to join the club at the conclusion of the 2018–19 A-League season.

Life After Professional Career

Blacktown Premier Spurs

Mark Bridge, Retired from Semi-Professional NPL football in 2020, in 2021 he started playing local football in the Blacktown & District Soccer Football Association. Bridge is currently playing for O35/3 at Blacktown Premier Spurs in

Marayong Marayong is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Marayong is located approximately 38 kilometres north west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Blacktown and is part of ...

International career

Mark Bridge has played for the Australian U-20 Squad where he made 9 appearances and scored 9 goals. He is currently a member of Australia U-23 national team. He was also called up to Australia senior squad for their

Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

qualifiers, in a match against

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the no ...

on 16 August. He was hoping to be included in the Australia senior squad for the

games against

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

, China and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, but was not selected. Bridge made his senior international debut against

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

in a friendly match in March 2008. Bridge was selected for the 2008 Australian Olympic squad.

A-League statistics

Honours

Club

Newcastle Jets: * A-League Championship: 2007–08 Sydney FC: * A-League Premiership: 2009–10 * A-League Championship: 2009–10 Western Sydney Wanderers: * A-League Premiership:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Individual

* Western Sydney Wanderers Player of the Year:

, 2015–16 * A-League All Star:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bridge, Mark 1985 births Living people Australia international soccer players Australia under-20 international soccer players Olympic soccer players of Australia Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Parramatta Power players Newcastle Jets FC players Sydney FC players Western Sydney Wanderers FC players Tianjin Jinmen Tiger F.C. players Mark Bridge National Soccer League (Australia) players Parramatta FC players Australian expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in China Australian expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate footballers in Thailand Australian expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Soccer players from Sydney Association football midfielders Association football forwards Mounties Wanderers FC players Australian soccer players