This week’s round of A-League action will be the last for a trio of long-serving players.

Today’s ANZAC Day clash between Brisbane Roar and Adelaide United at Suncorp Stadium will be the final chance to farewell Matt McKay and Henrique.

McKay played for the inaugural Queensland Roar team in 2005 and has spent his entire A-League career at the club. In fact, the Brisbane born 36-year-old has played all of his domestic football in Queensland – he also played for the Brisbane Strikers and Eastern Suburbs.

In between his A-League career, he made moves to China for Changchun Yatai, he had a brief stint at Scottish club Rangers, and played 27 matches for South Korean side Busan IPark.

Since returning to Queensland, McKay has played 140 league matches for the Roar and bows out as a legend of the club.

He is a two-time A-League Championship winner (2010/11, 2013/14) and a two-time A-League Premiership winner (2010/11 and 2013/14).

He amassed 59 caps for the Socceroos and scored two goals, while his international career highlight was winning the 2015 Asian Cup.

Henrique is another Brisbane Roar player making his final appearance this week.

The 33-year-old Brazilian joined the club initially on-loan in 2009, however this soon became a permanent deal.

He departed the Roar in 2016 and moved to Malaysian club Negeri Sembilan, however returned to the A-League in the 2016/17 season when he signed for Adelaide United.

Two short stints in Thailand followed and he finally made his way back to the Roar in 2018.

He is a three-time A-League Championship winner (2010/11, 2011/12, 2013/14) and a two-time A-League Premiership winner (2010/11, 2013/14).

He played a large role in Brisbane Roar’s glory under Ange Postecoglou and Mike Mulvey.

Finally, Saturday night will see the final A-League match for Western Sydney Wanderers striker Mark Bridge, as they take on Melbourne Victory at ANZ Stadium.

Bridge first played professionally for Parramatta Power in the NSL, however his first A-League stint was at Newcastle Jets.

In 2008, he moved to Sydney FC and during this time also went on-loan to Chinese side Tianjin Teda.

Bridge then joined the Wanderers in their inaugural campaign and while he played a season in Thailand, he returned to the club in 2017.

The 33-year-old is a two-time A-League Championship winner (2007/08 and 2009/10), a two-time A-League Premiership winner (2009/10 and 2012/13) and an Asian Champions League winner (2014).

While only making two appearances for the Socceroos, Bridge has had a strong career domestically.

The three are just some of the many that are hanging up the boots at the end of the season, with more to come after the finals series.

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Tim Sperliotis
tsperliotis@gmail.com