PLAYER PROFILE

Mark Schwarzer

Position: Goal

Height: 6'5

Weight: 13st 7lbs

Date of Birth: 1972-10-06 Sydney, Australia

Mark Schwarzer

Australian international Mark Schwarzer starts the new season as Middlesbrough's longest-serving player, as he enters his ninth season on the Riverside.

The 33-year-old returns to Premiership action having impressed in the World Cup finals with Australia, and will now be looking for an injury-free and consistent season with Middlesbrough.

Schwarzer is one of many Australian players to have made their name in the Premiership. He arrived in this country from Germany's Bundesliga, signing for Bradford City and starring in an FA Cup win against Everton.

Everton were interested in signing the Aussie but it was Bryan Robson who staked 'Boro's claim and, using an Alan Miller loan move in the opposite direction as bait, tempted Chris Kamara to sell to the Riverside club.

Consistent during Middlesbrough's promotion campaign, he has gone on to prove himself a bargain purchase. Allied to his professionalism is an ability for shot-stopping that has seen him regularly pick up 'man of the match' awards. Before he left the club, Bryan Robson had secured Mark's future with a long-term contract that the player was happy to commit to.

Since then, he has continued to be a strong presence behind the back-four at Boro under Steve McClaren, and fans at the Riverside will hope that the Aussie keeper will continue to hold onto the number one shirt under Gareth Southgate.

During the 2003/04 season Schwarzer was ever present in the Boro side, helping them to a Carling Cup triumph with some penalty shoot-out heroics on the way to Cardiff. In the final, he recovered well from an early error which gifted Kevin Davies with a goal, to pull off a string of fine saves and help Boro win their first trophy in a very long time!

This success continued into the 2004/05 season. Although Boro failed to hold onto the Carling Cup, they finished in 7th place. They also had a successful run in the UEFA Cup, making it to the last 16, before narrowly losing to Sporting Lisbon.

Schwarzer was crucial in this success. He was McClaren's goalkeeper of choice, making 43 appearances and keeping 13 clean sheets all in all.

However, despite signing a three-year extension to his contract, the keeper said he was keen to leave Boro in January 2006 and was placed on the transfer list at his own request.

This was quickly resolved and Schwarzer was removed from the list, but the suggestion that he would like to move on was clear.

Nevertheless, following an injury-troubled 2005/06 campaign, the Aussie remains the number one choice for Boro and went on to make over 40 appearance in 06/07.