6. RYAN McGOWAN

An alumni of the mighty Para Hills Knights, McGowan is unique in this list in that he has never made an A-League appearance, skipping the fledgling competition in 2006 to follow his Scottish heritage and take up a role at Heart of Midlothian.

A whopping 13 years later it seems McGowan's decorated overseas career may finally be coming to an end, with his latest spot at Bradford City in doubt after a loan spell back to the Scottish Premier League with Dundee.

It's truly the end of an era for McGowan.

Unlike many modern fullbacks, McGowan wasn't blessed with a sterling array of attacking attributes, but a series of solid career decisions, determined consistency and an unwavering skillset have ensured McGowan racked up an admirable 20 Socceroos caps.

His latest move, a season-loan from League One side Bradford City, where McGowan featured regularly and led the Bantams to a respectable 11th-placed finish, to Dundee FC, city rivals to Dundee United where McGowan dominated in 2015, followed a similar trajectory.

At 29, McGowan still has the legs to match his footballing intelligence and would be a major coup for any A-League club, assuming the curiosity to finally taste Australian competition proves too great at this stage of his career.

Western United are rumoured to be hot on the heels of the fullback, but will have to likely battle the Aussie's love of Scotland if they're going to lure him back this early.

"Scotland was a major part of my life, not only as a footballer, but for me as a person," McGowan previously said after his first move out of the UK, to Chinese club Shandong Luneng.

"But you never know in football. You kind of move contract to contract."