Daniel McBreen

Daniel James McBreen (born 23 April 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played in the Romanian Divizia A for Universitatea Craiova, in the Scottish Premier League for Falkirk, in the Football League for Scunthorpe United, in the A-League for North Queensland Fury, Perth Glory and Central Coast Mariners, in the Chinese Super League for Shanghai Dongya and in the Hong Kong Premier League for South China. He is the formerly head coach of the Newcastle Jets youth team.

Born in England, McBreen moved to Australia with his family when he was six weeks old and started his career in local football with Toronto Awaba Stags and Edgeworth Eagles. He earned a professional contract with National Soccer League club Newcastle United in 2000, where he played for two seasons before joining Universitatea Craiova of the Romanian Divizia A. He left them amid a dispute over wages in 2004, when he joined Falkirk, where he won the Scottish First Division title and the Scottish Challenge Cup in the 2004–05 season. McBreen spent 2005–06 with them in the Scottish Premier League before being released, when he joined League One club Scunthorpe United in 2006. He played sporadically in their 2006–07 League One title-winning season, and was loaned to Conference Premier club York City in 2007 before having a short spell with St Johnstone in the Scottish First Division. McBreen rejoined York permanently in 2008 and played one season for them, with his last match in Europe coming in their defeat in the 2009 FA Trophy Final at Wembley Stadium.

He returned to Australia to play in the A-League for North Queensland Fury, but mid-season agreed to join division rivals Central Coast Mariners for the next two seasons. McBreen completed 2009–10 with another A-League club, Perth Glory, and his good form with them resulted in a call-up to the Australia national team. He was part of the Mariners team that finished in second place in the 2010–11 A-League but was beaten in the 2011 A-League Grand Final. The Mariners were the Australian Premiers in 2011–12, but were knocked out of the finals series in the preliminary final. McBreen scored one of the Mariners' goals in the 2013 A-League Grand Final as they were crowned A-League Champions, and for his performance he was awarded the Joe Marston Medal. He had already won A-League Golden Boot as the division's top scorer with 17 goals. He then went on loan with Shanghai Dongya, before joining them permanently for the 2014 Chinese Super League and having a spell with South China for the remainder of the 2014–15 Hong Kong Premier League.

Club career

Early life and career

McBreen was born in Burnley, Lancashire, England to Jim and Kathy (née Wood). The family moved to Australia six weeks later after his father took up an offer to play football for Edgeworth Eagles. He was raised in Newcastle, New South Wales and started his career playing local football for Toronto Awaba Stags before joining Edgeworth Eagles in 1999. McBreen scored over 20 goals for them in the 1999 Northern NSW State Football League before being the league's top scorer the following season with 23 goals. However, he was dropped for the grand final, when Edgeworth were beaten 3–0 by Hamilton Olympic.

McBreen earned his first professional contract aged 23 with Newcastle United of the National Soccer League in July 2000. He later credited Edgeworth coach Bobby Naumov for the move, saying "He set me on the road to a pro career". McBreen made his debut that year, and scored 6 goals from 23 appearances as Newcastle finished in 14th place in the 2000–01 National Soccer League table. Newcastle turned full-time the following year, and McBreen played 13 matches and scored 3 goals with Newcastle improving their league position by ranking second in the 2001–02 National Soccer League table. Despite playing less frequently he enjoyed working under new coach Ian Crook, saying "you can speak to him as a human being and he can man manage. He made training enjoyable".

Spells in Europe

After being offered a trial with Universitatea Craiova by an agent, McBreen signed for the Romanian Divizia A club in July 2002 on a three-year contract. He made his debut in 3–1 win over Astra Ploiești on 17 August, and scored only once in 13 appearances for a Craiova team that ranked seventh in the 2002–03 Divizia A table. However, McBreen's wages were continually paid late throughout the season and he came close to a move to Norwegian Tippeligaen club Lillestrøm, only for Craiova to twice raise their asking price for him on transfer deadline day. He played more regularly the next season, making 20 appearances and scoring 2 goals as Craiova finished fourth in the 2003–04 Divizia A table. He finally left Craiova in 2004 after the club's president Pavel Badea, a former teammate of McBreen's at the club, signed a letter releasing him from his contract. He took his case to FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport with the help of Professional Footballers Australia, and only received the money he was owed after the club was given a three-point deduction and was threatened with automatic relegation.

McBreen was prepared to return to Australia before being offered a trial with Falkirk of the Scottish First Division. He also played for Conference South club St Albans City in pre-season before Falkirk received international clearance to play him in September 2004. McBreen made his debut as a 73rd-minute substitute for Andy Thomson in a 3–0 home win over Gretna in the Scottish Challenge Cup on 14 September. He came on as a 72nd-minute substitute for Thomson in the 2004 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, in which Falkirk beat Ross County 2–1 at McDiarmid Park on 7 November. His first goal came on his first start for the club, with a shot from eight yards seconds before half-time, as Falkirk beat Raith Rovers 2–0 away on 13 November. This marked the start of a run of nine goals from seven matches, and come the end of the season McBreen and his strike partner Darryl Duffy had scored a combined total of 40 goals. He finished 2004–05 with 13 goals from 26 matches as Falkirk were promoted to the Scottish Premier League as 2004–05 Scottish First Division champions. His 13 league goals saw him ranked as the division's fourth highest scorer.

McBreen signed a new one-year contract with Falkirk in June 2005, and manager John Hughes predicted "With a good pre-season under his belt, I'm sure he'll get even better". He scored his first goal of the 2005–06 season in the 83rd minute of a home match against Rangers on 10 September, with a header from Alan Gow's cross that secured Falkirk a 1–1 draw. McBreen scored the only goal in Falkirk's 1–0 win over Livingston on 6 May 2006 with a header from Gow's free kick, which was only the team's second victory at home all season. He appeared more frequently in 2005–06, making 38 appearances but only scoring 8 goals, with Falkirk ranking in 10th place in the 2005–06 Scottish Premier League table. Despite taking over the main striking role after Duffy's transfer to Hull City in January, McBreen was released by the club in May.

He went on trial with League One clubs Northampton Town, Brighton & Hove Albion and Scunthorpe United, signing for the latter on 30 August 2006 on a two-year contract. He made his debut two days later starting a 2–0 away victory over Gillingham, but due to a hamstring injury that kept him out of action for 10 months his last appearance of 2006–07 came in November. He made 10 appearances for a Scunthorpe team that won promotion to the Championship as 2006–07 League One champions. At the end of the season, McBreen was told by Scunthorpe manager Nigel Adkins that he was free to pursue a transfer to another club, despite having a year remaining on his contract.

McBreen joined Conference Premier club York City on 5 October 2007 on a one-month loan, with the option of a possible extension. His York debut came in a 4–1 home defeat to Histon a day later and scored his first goal in the following match against Stafford Rangers, with a header from a Martyn Woolford cross in a 2–0 home victory. After making five appearances and scoring two goals he was recalled by Scunthorpe on 5 November due to the departure of on-loan Millwall striker Ben May. Despite this, York manager Billy McEwan was interested in bringing McBreen back to the club for another loan spell. He bought out the remainder of his Scunthorpe contract to join St Johnstone of the Scottish First Division on 2 January 2008 on a contract until the end of the season. His debut came the same day in a 1–1 home draw with Dundee, which he entered as a 62nd-minute substitute for Liam Craig. He suffered a knee injury during this match, and this hampered his progress at the club. On 20 April, McBreen scored the opening goal with a back-post header from Paul Sheerin's cross in St Johnstone's Scottish Cup

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