by Ryan Miller-Woods (19/8/22)
Above: Ellie Brush (left) celebrating for Canberra United in her previous spell with the capital city club. Photo: Canberra Times.
Canberra United announced this morning the signing of Ellie Brush who returns to the club for the 2022/23 Liberty A-League season.
Brush is a familiar name for supporters of Canberra United having played over 100+ games for the club and during her first stint at the capital city club was a part of two Championship and two Premiership winning teams.
She last played for Canberra in 2017 before then making the move to New South Wales, where she played for both Western Sydney Wanderers and most recently Sydney FC.
“I am extremely excited to be returning to Canberra for the new season and reacquainting myself with the club and its fantastic supporters,” Brush said.
“I have very many happy memories of my time with Canberra United and being part of a wonderful football club in a terrific city. It’s a team that has a special place in my heart and I am thrilled to be back.
“Njegosh (Popovich) is a great coach, we have an excellent coaching and backroom staff that I have had the pleasure of working with previously, and the club are building a strong squad. I can’t wait to get started and get back out on the field in front of some of the best supporters in the league.”
Reflecting on her joy at being back in familiar surroundings, Brush smiled: “It’s like the gang are back together with Michelle (Heyman), Grace Gill, and Sykesey (Ashleigh Sykes) still around the club, yeh, it’s great to be back!”
Brush is one of the most experienced players to have played in the Liberty A-League. Outside of the competition, she has enjoyed subsequent stints overseas in the USA with Houston Dash and in Norway with Avaldsnes IL as well as winning two international caps for the Matildas which were against Italy in February 2009 in Canberra and New Zealand in June 2012 in Wollongong.
Throughout her career, she has been renowned as a speedy central defender, with both an astute positional sense and an eye for goal where she has found the net a total of twenty times during her time in the competition and will provide a cool head within the ranks at United.
“Ellie brings a wealth of top-level experience and nous to our squad, and I am happy that she has decided to re-join Canberra United for the 2022/23 season,” Head Coach Njegosh Popovich commented.
“She is a very experienced defender that has the ability to find forward passes unlocking defences and is also an aerial threat scoring goals from set pieces.
“She knows and understands the culture at Canberra, being part of the club from the inaugural season, and has captained the club for many years. The supporters are all very familiar with Brushy as she has been an integral part of the team since its formation.
“Ellie also has the winning mentality required to mentor and lead younger players through her own experiences being part of leadership groups, helping us to four trophies in her career. Ellie can impart that knowledge to our youngsters. I am looking forward to working with her again during the year.”
With the signing of Brush, Canberra’s squad is coming together with a significant number of players announced. There is a good mix of both youth and experience which makes Canberra is a team to seriously look out for next season. Njegosh Popovich is putting together an incredibly strong side.
In particular, the permutations in attack catch the eye as Michelle Heyman will join up with Nikki Flannery once more following the latter’s return from a long-term injury. With new signing Grace Jale in the squad as well, this is potentially a potent forward line.
With Heyman scoring 10 in 11 games for Canberra last time round, plus Jale contributing six in 12 appearances at Wellington Phoenix there are going to be fun times ahead for the Greens’ fans.
Impetus welcomes Ryan Miller-Woods as the latest member of our editorial team. You can find out about Ryan and all of our contributors by clicking here: https://impetusfootball.org/about-our-contributors/
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