Brent Colm McGrath (born 18 June 1991) is a former Australian international football (soccer) player who currently plays as a striker for Bentleigh Greens in the National Premier Leagues.

Brent McGrath
Personal information
Full name Brent Colm McGrath
Date of birth (1991-06-18) 18 June 1991 (age 33)
Place of birth Sydney, Australia
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 12 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
Bentleigh Greens
Youth career
2005–2006 Sydney United
2006–2009 Brøndby
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2013 Brøndby 39 (5)
2013 Adelaide United 2 (0)
2014 Bentleigh Greens 13 (9)
2014 Sisaket 13 (7)
2015 Chonburi 0 (0)
2015Port (loan) 15 (2)
2015–2016 FC Fredericia 27 (15)
2016–2019 Esbjerg fB 26 (1)
2017–2018FC Fredericia (loan) 25 (5)
2019 Kolding IF 1 (0)
2020– Bentleigh Greens 14 (5)
International career
2006 Australia U-17 2 (0)
2009 Australia U-20 5 (1)
2011 Australia 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 September 2021
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 4 March 2020

Born in Sydney, McGrath played youth football for Brøndby before making his professional debut for the club in 2010. In 2013, Brent returned to Australia, playing for Adelaide United and Bentleigh Greens before spending time in the Thai Premier League. In 2015, he returned to Denmark with FC Fredericia before moving to Esbjerg fB one season later.

McGrath made one appearance for the Australian national team, a win over Germany in 2011.

Junior Representative to International

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Brent was recognized very early as a player of great potential. Whilst playing for Sydney United in the NSW Premier Youth League competition, he stood out as a player of the future. As a young 14-year-old, Brent was selected in the NSW state team where his skills were being enhanced - getting him ready for the higher levels he was destined for. Even at this early stage, a very young and humble young man had his feet squarely planted on the ground. The early stages of the "U/14 Friendship Games" in 2005 were not the best for Brent, but he found his way in time for the end of that tournament to be noticed by Ange Postecoglou and would eventually go on to become the youngest 'Joey' at the time (for the U/17 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Laos, 2006)

Club career

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McGrath signed for Brøndby IF in 2010. On 22 March 2010, McGrath made his senior debut for the Brøndby first team against Randers, coming on as a 65th-minute substitute for Peter Madsen.[1][2]

McGrath scored his first goal for the club in October 2010 against FC Nordsjælland in a 1–1 draw in the Danish Superliga.[3]

Following his departure from Denmark, McGrath flew to Melbourne to trial with A-League club Melbourne Victory ahead of the 2013-14 season, but eventually signed for Adelaide United[4]

On 20 August 2015, McGrath signed a one-year contract with the Danish 1st Division club FC Fredericia.[5]

McGrath signed a three-year deal with Danish Superliga side Esbjerg fB in May 2016.[6] He was loaned back to Fredericia in his second season at the club.[7] McGrath left Denmark and Esbjerg at the end of the 2018/19 season, where his contract expired.[8]

On 6 July 2019, McGrath joined newly promoted Danish 1st Division club Kolding IF.[9] He scored on his competitive debut for the club, a win over Dalum IF in the 2019–20 Danish Cup on 7 August 2019.[10] McGrath left Kolding to return to Australia in September 2019.[11]

McGrath returned to Australia to join National Premier Leagues Victoria club Bentleigh Greens in December 2019.[12]

International career

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McGrath received his first Socceroos call up by coach Holger Osieck for a friendly against Germany. He came on as a substitute for Brett Holman in time added on in Australia's 2-1 victory.

Career statistics

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Club

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As of 4 March 2020
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Brøndby 2009–10 Danish Superliga 6 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
2010–11 10 1 0 0 0 0 10 1
2011–12 13 1 2 2 2 0 17 3
2012–13 10 0 3 1 0 0 13 1
Brøndby total 39 2 5 3 2 0 46 5
Adelaide United 2013–14 A-League 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Bentleigh Greens 2014 National Premier Leagues 13 9 1 1 0 0 14 10
Sisaket 2014 Thai Premier League 13 7 0 0 0 0 13 7
Chonburi 2015 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Port (loan) 2015 15 2 1 1 0 0 16 3
FC Fredericia 2015–16 Danish 1st Division 27 15 3 0 0 0 30 15
Esbjerg fB 2016–17 Danish Superliga 17 1 1 0 0 0 18 1
2018–19 9 0 3 2 0 0 12 2
Esbjerg total 26 1 4 2 0 0 30 3
FC Fredericia (loan) 2017–18 Danish 1st Division 14 4 3 4 0 0 16 7
Kolding IF 2019–20 1 0 1 1 0 0 2 1
Bentleigh Greens 2020 National Premier Leagues 5 3 1 0 0 0 6 3
2021 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Bentleigh total 6 3 1 0 0 0 7 3
Career total 156 43 19 12 2 0 176 55

Honours

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Club

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Bentleigh Greens

References

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  1. ^ "Moore Strikes in Greek Defeat - Australia News - Australian FourFourTwo - the Ultimate Football Website". Archived from the original on 28 September 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  2. ^ "Sports Blog - Stories & Insights from the World of Sports".
  3. ^ "Brondby.com | Uafgjort 1-1 i Farum". Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  4. ^ "Motorsport Video |Motorsport Highlights, Replays, News, Clips".
  5. ^ FCF skriver med Brent McGrath Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, FC Fredericia, 20 August 2015
  6. ^ Huguenin, Michael (19 May 2016). "Mission accomplished' - McGrath signs three-year deal with Danish Superliga club". Goal.com. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  7. ^ FC FREDERICIA LEJER BRENT MCGRATH Archived 19 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine‚ fcfredericia.dk, 18 August 2017
  8. ^ Brent McGrath forlader Esbjerg, bold.dk, 25 April 2019
  9. ^ Landsholdserfaren australier skriver med Kolding IF, kif-fodbold.dk, 6 July 2019
  10. ^ "Fem debutanter med i sikker pokalavancement" (in Danish). Kolding IF. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Brent McGrath vaelger familien over fodbold". JydskeVestkysten. 5 September 2019.
  12. ^ Stogiannou, George (19 December 2019). "Port Melbourne Sharks and Bentleigh Greens pick up experienced signings". Neos Kosmos. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  13. ^ Lynch, Joey (10 February 2020). "Bentleigh Greens win 2020 Community Shield". Football Victoria. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
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