Former Socceroo Brett Emerton supports Macarthur A-League bid
AUSTRALIAN football champion and former English Premier League star Brett Emerton has thrown his support behind the United For Macarthur A-League bid.
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AUSTRALIAN football legend and former English Premier League star Brett Emerton has thrown his support behind the United For Macarthur A-League bid.
Emerton, a 95-cap Socceroo and a leading figure in Australia’s historic 2006 FIFA World Cup campaign, has signed on as an ambassador for the bid.
The United For Macarthur A-League bid, spearheaded by Campbelltown Council, has begun ramping up its drive for community support this week as bid mascots Mac, Arthur and Unity visit local sporting grounds.
Emerton grew up in Macquarie Fields and started playing junior football for Gunners Soccer Club at the age of five.
After progressing through the youth system in Australia, he made a name for himself in Europe with Feyenoord Rotterdam where he won the UEFA Cup before moving to Blackburn Rovers in the English Premier League, cementing his status as one of the country’s most recognisable football exports.
Emerton said the region’s growing number of players, currently over 11,000, showed there was grassroot support for football in the region that could feed into a successful A-League club.
“I think the passion for football in the Macarthur region is continuing to grow,” he said.
“Since I’ve come back I’ve lived in the area and seen the passion at the grassroots level and this will give the local kids pathways to the professional game.”
Emerton said the community model the bid was hoping to establish appealed to him.
“I think it’s really great that they’re trying to make this a community-based club,” he said.
“It’s a really good model. Western Sydney Wanderers involved the community quite well when they were established which contributed to their early success and I think we can do much of the same in that regard.
“A team in Macarthur can only can only add to the rivalries we have in Sydney, the more Sydney Derbies we have the better.”
Emerton said should the bid be successful, he would look to be involved in establishing the team.
“For me, a team in the Campbelltown area makes sense and that’s the reason I’ve come on board,” he said.
“We’ve got a ready made stadium so the facilities are already in place, the passion for football is growing and the potential growth of the region would sustain a club.
“I would love to be involved in setting up the club should we be successful.”
Campbelltown Mayor George Brticevic welcomed Emerton on board and said his support would strengthen United For Macarthur’s pitch to Football Federation Australia.
“Brett is a role model for young football players, and has community at the heart of what he does,’’ Cr Brticevic said.
“He knows first-hand the importance of professional pathways in fostering talent, and how playing on home turf, in front of local fans, can motivate young players on to bigger and better things.’’
To find out more about the United For Macarthur bid visit unitedformacarthur.com.au, or visit the Facebook page.