The 32-year-old was presented with his certificate at a ceremony yesterday and he admitted he did not initially think he would spend this much time in the A-League.

"When I arrived here I originally thought I might play for a year," Brebner told the Herald Sun.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the league would take off as quickly as it did and how very quickly I would find myself quite settled and quite at home."

His Scottish connection with coach Ernie Merrick paved the way for his move before the 2006-07 A-League season and then the midfielder felt he could help the club by becoming an Australian citizen.

"After doing so well as a team on the park, and with things going well off it, I thought I'd be quite happy to stay here for the foreseeable future and then from the club's perspective it made sense to become a citizen and become a non-visa player, which is beneficial to the club," Brebner said.

He said he would be glad for a Scottish player to take his position.

"I did say that it had to be a Scottish player that takes my spot. I'm sure Ernie wouldn't mind another Scottish player," he said.

The club now has two spots available on its roster with 21 of the 23 spots filled.

At least one striker is on the list of potential transfer targets after Archie Thompson went down with a knee injury in the club's grand final loss to Sydney.

Brebner praised the club and the way it went about looking after its players, particularly foreigners including Costa Rican duo Carlos Hernandez and Marvin Angulo, as well as Thai defender Surat Sukha.

He added: "Melbourne is a family club ... they're certainly very good at looking after their players and all of the overseas players that have been here have certainly been well looked after."