Early life and career McBreen was born in
Burnley, Lancashire, England to Jim and Kathy (née Wood). The family moved to Australia six weeks later after his father took up an offer to play
football for
Edgeworth Eagles. and started his career playing local football for
Toronto Awaba Stags before joining Edgeworth Eagles in 1999. McBreen scored over 20 goals for them in the 1999
Northern NSW State Football League However, he was dropped for the grand final, when Edgeworth were beaten 3–0 by
Hamilton Olympic. with
Newcastle United of the
National Soccer League in July 2000. He later credited Edgeworth coach Bobby Naumov for the move, saying "He set me on the road to a pro career". Newcastle turned full-time the following year, Despite playing less frequently He made his debut in 3–1 win over
Astra Ploiești on 17 August, and scored only once in 13 appearances However, McBreen's wages were continually paid late throughout the season and he came close to a move to Norwegian
Tippeligaen club
Lillestrøm, only for Craiova to twice raise their asking price for him on transfer deadline day. He finally left Craiova in 2004 after the club's president
Pavel Badea, a former teammate of McBreen's at the club, signed a letter releasing him from his contract. He also played for
Conference South club
St Albans City in pre-season before Falkirk received international clearance to play him in September 2004. This marked the start of a run of nine goals from seven matches, He finished 2004–05 with 13 goals from 26 matches His 13 league goals saw him ranked as the division's fourth highest scorer. McBreen signed a new one-year contract with Falkirk in June 2005, and
manager John Hughes predicted "With a good pre-season under his belt, I'm sure he'll get even better". He scored his first goal of the 2005–06 season in the 83rd minute of a home match against
Rangers on 10 September, with a header from
Alan Gow's cross that secured Falkirk a 1–1 draw. McBreen scored the only goal in Falkirk's 1–0 win over
Livingston on 6 May 2006 with a header from Gow's free kick, which was only the team's second victory at home all season. He appeared more frequently in 2005–06, making 38 appearances but only scoring 8 goals, Despite taking over the main striking role after Duffy's transfer to
Hull City in January, McBreen was released by the club in May. He went on trial with
League One clubs
Northampton Town,
Brighton & Hove Albion and
Scunthorpe United, signing for the latter on 30 August 2006 on a two-year contract. He made his debut two days later starting a 2–0 away victory over
Gillingham, but due to a hamstring injury that kept him out of action for 10 months his last appearance of 2006–07 came in November. At the end of the season, McBreen was told by Scunthorpe manager
Nigel Adkins that he was free to pursue a transfer to another club, despite having a year remaining on his contract. McBreen joined
Conference Premier club
York City on 5 October 2007 on a one-month
loan, with the option of a possible extension. After making five appearances and scoring two goals Despite this, York manager
Billy McEwan was interested in bringing McBreen back to the club for another loan spell. He bought out the remainder of his Scunthorpe contract to join
St Johnstone of the Scottish First Division on 2 January 2008 on a contract until the end of the season. His debut came the same day in a 1–1 home draw with
Dundee, which he entered as a 62nd-minute substitute for
Liam Craig. St Johnstone finished in third place in the
2007–08 Scottish First Division table as McBreen made seven appearances and scored one goal in the
2009 FA Trophy Final McBreen held talks with
A-League team
Adelaide United before being handed a trial with their divisional rivals
Wellington Phoenix. He returned to former club York City on 25 June 2008 on a one-year contract. His first match back at the club was a 1–0 away victory over
Crawley Town and in his third appearance he scored his first goal of the
2008–09 season McBreen was played primarily as a lone striker in away matches during 2008–09, a decision which York manager
Colin Walker defended in September; Dave Flett of
The Press commented that he "[led] the line lazily". During February 2009, it was reported in the Australian media that he had agreed join A-League newcomers
North Queensland Fury, although York were unaware of any transfer taking place. It was later confirmed that he would join the Fury in August for the
2009–10 A-League, following the expiry of his York contract in June. He had scored in every round of the
2008–09 FA Trophy leading up to the
final, bar the first round when he was an unused substitute, and ahead of the final commented that: "I couldn't ask for anything more than a Wembley final to end my career in Europe and it's also a great finale to a disappointing season for the fans and players". He started in the match at
Wembley Stadium on 9 May, which York lost 2–0 to
Stevenage Borough. He made 48 appearances and scored 10 goals
Return to Australia McBreen made his debut for North Queensland Fury in a 3–2 home defeat to
Sydney FC on 8 August 2009 as an 82nd-minute substitute for
Paul Kohler. He went on to sign a two-year pre-contract with A-League opponents
Central Coast Mariners, for the
2010–11 and
2011–12 seasons, in December. McBreen was used mostly as a substitute after the move was announced, He had scored 3 goals in 21 appearances for the Fury. McBreen played in their 4–2 penalty shoot-out defeat to Wellington Phoenix in the fourth v fifth semi-final on 21 February, which followed a 1–1 draw after extra time. His good form was rewarded with his first call-up for the
Australia national team. McBreen made his debut for the Mariners in 1–0 away win over
Melbourne Heart on 5 August 2010, in which he was substituted for
Nik Mrdja in the 90th minute. McBreen was
sent off for the first time since returning to Australia with a second
yellow card and returned from suspension as a 52nd-minute substitute for
Adam Kwasnik in a 1–1 draw away to Perth Glory on 12 December. With a second-placed finish in the 2010–11 A-League table the Mariners qualified for the
finals series, and he started in their 4–2 aggregate defeat to Brisbane Roar in the major semi-final and their 1–0 win over
Gold Coast United in the preliminary final. McBreen scored his first goal of the season in a 3–1 home win over Melbourne Heart, with an 82nd-minute penalty kick, and his only A-League goal scored in normal play The Mariners became the A-League Premiers after finishing in first place in the 2011–12 table, also qualifying for the
finals series. He appeared as a substitute in the first leg of their 5–2 aggregate defeat to Brisbane Roar in the major semi-final, and as a substitute in the preliminary final against Perth Glory, in which the Mariners were beaten 5–3 in a penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 extra time draw. He scored 4 goals from 30 matches in 2011–12, McBreen's first goal of 2012–13 came seven minutes after entering the Mariners's 1–0 win at home to Perth Glory as a 63rd-minute substitute, in what was his first appearance of the season. He recorded the first
hat-trick in the Mariners' history in their 7–2 home win over Sydney FC on 3 November 2012, scoring in the first half with a penalty kick and in the second half with a close range finish and a header from
Josh Rose's cross. This marked the start of a run of 14 goals from 15 matches, With 17 goals McBreen won the
A-League Golden Boot, awarded to the division's top scorer. In the semi-final of the finals series he scored the only goal in the Mariner's 1–0 win over Melbourne Victory on 14 April 2013 One week later he scored the second goal with a 68th-minute penalty kick as the Mariners beat
Western Sydney Wanderers 2–0 at
Sydney Football Stadium in the
2013 A-League Grand Final. before being named as a substitute in the
PFA A-League Team of the Season. He made six appearances in the team's run to the
round of 16 of the AFC Champions League, when they were beaten 5–1 on aggregate by
Guangzhou Evergrande of the
Chinese Super League. having scored 19 goals from 33 appearances in 2012–13. His debut came a month later after starting Shanghai's 3–0 home defeat to
Beijing Guoan on 7 July, and a week later scored his first goal in the 10th minute of a 3–0 away victory over
Guizhou Renhe. McBreen scored twice in 12 appearances for the Mariners in 2013–14 His second debut came when starting their 1–1 away draw with
Liaoning Hongyun on 9 March, He went without scoring in the final three months of the season, which he finished with 5 goals from 28 appearances McBreen stated his desire to stay for another season, but admitted he might not be retained after the club was taken over by new owners. He signed for
Hong Kong Premier League club
South China for the remainder of the
2014–15 Hong Kong Premier League on 21 January 2015. McBreen debuted four days later as a 77th-minute substitute for
Yuto Nakamura in a 4–2 away win over
Sun Pegasus, before scoring twice in their 6–1 away victory against
Global in the
2015 AFC Cup group stage on 25 February. and McBreen scored 11 goals from 17 appearances ==International career==