page_title: Brett Emerton
section_title: Blackburn Rovers
hierarchical_section_title: Brett Emerton / Club career / Blackburn Rovers
caption_attribution_description: العربية: بريت إيمرتون. Ελληνικά: Ο Μπρετ Έμερτον.
context_page_description: Brett Michael Emerton is a retired Australian professional footballer who played for Sydney Olympic, Sydney FC, Feyenoord Rotterdam, Blackburn Rovers and the Australian national team. He is the third most capped player for Australia. Able to play as a wide midfielder or defender, Emerton was known for his "speed, ball control and creativity."
context_section_description: After being linked with several Premiership teams, Emerton eventually joined Blackburn Rovers in July 2003 for an undisclosed fee, on a four-year contract, saying, "I've always dreamed of playing in the Premiership so to finally achieve it is great." He turned down offers from other clubs so that he could play in his preferred position on the wing. He scored on his debut in a 5–1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in August 2003. Manager Graeme Souness said of him: "Emerton is a top player. If he can keep up that level of trickery I will be quite happy." In his first Premier League season, Emerton played in 37 league games, scored 2 goals, and featured in 40 matches in all competitions. However, Blackburn failed to make progress in the UEFA Cup and struggled against relegation.
  Blackburn survived that season but again struggled in the 2004–05 season, not winning a game until September 2004.  However, the club preserved their Premiership status following a change of manager and reached the FA Cup semi-finals, where they lost to Arsenal. Emerton paid credit to new manager, Mark Hughes, "It is a huge achievement. When Mark came in we were in a bit of disarray but from the day he arrived we worked on our fitness. Everyone is better for that and it has shown in our performances."
  A more successful season in 2005–06 saw Blackburn reach the 5th round of the FA Cup, losing to West Ham United, the semi-finals of the Carling Cup and qualifying for the UEFA Cup. Following the end of the season, Emerton signed a new four-year deal at Blackburn in August 2006.  Mark Hughes described him as "...a player who gives me a lot of options. He can carry the ball from one end of the field to the other. That's why teams have coveted him this summer."
  Emerton made 47 appearances in the 2006–07 season as Blackburn finished in mid-table but reached the FA Cup semi-final for the second time in three years, losing to Chelsea, and reached the knock-out stages of the UEFA cup, eventually losing out to Bayer Leverkusen for a place in the last 16. At the end of the 2006–07 season, 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 the summer of 2012.
  On 31 January 2009, Emerton's 2008–09 season came to a halt versus Middlesbrough when during a tackle, he damaged his knee. It was revealed on 2 February that he had damaged his cruciate ligament, which meant he would miss the remainder of the season, 6 to 9 months being his expected recovery time.
  On 12 September 2009, Emerton made his long-awaited return to Premier League football as a second-half substitute in the 3–1 Blackburn victory over fellow Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers. On 4 October 2009, Emerton started his first match in 2009–10 since being injured at Middlesbrough the previous season, playing against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in a heavy 6–2 defeat with Emerton playing 57 minutes before being replaced by substitute Morten Gamst Pedersen. In all competitions during the 2009–10 season, Emerton made a total of 29 appearances, scoring two goals, and providing four assists.
  On 25 July 2010, he replaced Morten Gamst Pedersen in the 60th minute in the 2–1 defeat to Rangers in the Sydney Festival of Football tournament held in Australia, but could not prevent the team from losing. "The biggest cheer of the afternoon came on the hour mark with the introduction of Brett Emerton, the Australian crowd all standing to applaud the introduction of the Sydney-born midfielder. Emerton scored his first goal of the 2010–11 Premier League season in a 2–1 victory over Blackpool at Bloomfield Road on 25 September, in which he scored in the 92nd minute of injury time. On 4 December, he scored his second goal of the season at Ewood Park against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 43rd minute, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 victory. Emerton scored the opening goal, and his third goal for the 2010–11 season, against local rivals Manchester United. In Rovers' last Premier 
caption: Brett Emerton at Blackburn Rovers
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image DateTime": "2008:03:13 20:45:08", "Image ExifOffset": "2142", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "1/96", "Thumbnail YResolution": "1/96", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4360", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "2066", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "0B131D6E8F01476B800E7D3B0B877F53", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}