Brett Michael Emerton born 22 February 1979 is an Australian footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Blackburn Rovers in the English Premier League and for the Australian national team. Emerton was a product of the Australian Institute of Sport and started his career with Sydney Olympic in August 1996. After making 94 appearances and scoring 16 goals. Emerton began to be noticed in Europe. After captaining the Olyroos at the Sydney Olympics, Emerton joined Feyenoord in August 2000 for a fee of £415,000, winning a UEFA Cup winners medal in May 2002 and being named the 2002 Oceania Footballer of the Year. He made a total of 111 league and cup appearances for Feyenoord, scoring eleven goals. After being linked with several Premiership teams, Emerton eventually joined Blackburn Rovers in July 2003 for an undisclosed fee, on a four-year contract. Emerton had made a total of 167 appearances for Blackburn in all competitions, scoring 10 goals. In July 2008, Emerton signed a new four-year contract, keeping him at the club until summer 2012.