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 ...

player who plays as a striker 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 t ...

. 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 Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to fil ...

, Bridge became the ninth player to reach 200 A-League 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 Parramatta Power Soccer Club were a professional association football club who were based in the Western Sydney city of Parramatta. They played in the National Soccer League from season 1999-00 until the league folded in 2004. The Power were ...

in 2005 during the inaugural A-League 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 Simon Colosimo (born 8 January 1979) is an Australian former soccer player who played as a centre back and defensive midfielder. He spent two years playing in Europe with spells in the Premier League with Manchester City and in the Belgian Fir ...

and

John Aloisi John Aloisi () (born 5 February 1976) is an Australian former soccer player and current head coach of A-League club Western United. In a professional career that spanned 20 seasons, with league totals of 459 games and 127 goals, he was the firs ...

. He scored his first goal for Sydney in their 5–2 demolition of Perth Glory at the Sydney Football Stadium. 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 The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional association ...

club

Tianjin Teda Tianjin Jinmen Tiger Football Club is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Tianjin, and their home stadium is t ...

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 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

club

Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua F.C. () is a Chinese professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The term ''shen hua'' literally translates as "the Flower of Shanghai" in ...

, during the 2011 AFC Champions League 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 Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victor ...

, 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 Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...

club. On 27 October 2012 Bridge scored the first ever A-League goal for the Western Sydney Wanderers, against

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisba ...

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

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

, Bridge left the club to join

Thai Premier League The Thai League 1 ( th, ไทยลีก 1), often referred to as T1, is the top level of the Thai football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Thai League 2. Seasons run from Augu ...

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

Return to Western Sydney Wanderers

In July 2017, Bridge returned to

on a two-year contract.

Mounties Wanderers FC

On 12 March 2019, Bridge signed for

National Premier Leagues NSW 2 The NSW League One Men is an Australian semi-professional association football league comprising teams from New South Wales. The league sits at Level 2 on the New South Wales league system, behind the National Premier Leagues NSW, (Level 3 of t ...

side

Mounties Wanderers FC 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 t ...

. 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.

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

senior squad for their Asian Cup 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 nort ...

on 16 August. He was hoping to be included in the

senior squad for the Asian Cup 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 Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australian ...

: *

A-League Championship A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professionalism in association football, professional men's association football, soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Austral ...

: 2007–08 Sydney FC: * A-League Premiership: 2009–10 *

: 2009–10

: * A-League Premiership: 2012–13 * AFC Champions League: 2014

Individual

Player of the Year: 2012–13, 2015–16 * A-League All Star: 2013

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 Mark Robert Bridge (born 7 November 1985) is an Australian professional football (soccer) player who plays as a striker for NPL club Mounties Wanderers. Bridge is the Western Sydney Wanderers' first ever goalscorer, earning himself the nick ...

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