Andy Bernal

NSL Career: Sydney Olympic 122 (6) / 1989 - 1993/94

Socceroos Career: 13 (0) A Internationals / 8 (0) B Internationals

A hard-nosed but brilliant defender, Andy Bernal started his senior career in Europe before returning to Australia to help Sydney Olympic become a force in the NSL. As the first Australian footballer to play in Spain, Bernal was a trailblazer and pushed through a congenital knee condition to achieve a long and storied career.

Born in Canberra to Spanish immigrants, Bernal began his junior career at Belsouth before moving on to Narrabundah and Canberra City where he pushed Rugby League aside to focus solely on football. At 17, Bernal earned a scholarship to the AIS Soccer Program where he was offered a trial with Real Madrid after impressing Real Madrid youth team coach Vicente del Bosque during an overseas tour with the AIS team.

Through family contacts, Bernal passed on the Madrid offer to sign for La Liga club Sporting Gijón in 1985, becoming the first Australian footballer to sign a La Liga contract. Unable to break in to the first team as a young foreigner, Bernal was loaned out to Segunda División side Albacete where he found regular game time.

Following his time at Albacete, Bernal was loaned out to Segunda División side Xerez where he played in every game of the 1986/87 season. Despite having a Spanish passport, Bernal was required to serve a mandatory two-year military service in order to remain in Spain on a permanent basis. 

With no incentive to represent the Spanish national team upon completing military service, Bernal flew out to England and gained a tourist visa. In England, Bernal went to Nottingham Forest for a trial where despite impressing coach Brian Clough, Forest's defence was already established with England internationals. 

With Clough's recommendation, Bernal joined Second Division side Ipswich Town where he made nine league appearances. Bernal was offered a long-term contract extension with Ipswich but was deported after his tourist visa expired. Not having represented the Socceroos at senior level, Bernal was denied a permanent visa and remained in Australia where joined Sydney Olympic for the 1989 season. Bernal scored on his NSL debut against Heidelberg before making his Socceroos debut in a B international win over Swedish club Malmö. 

Despite carrying a debilitating knee injury, Bernal managed to make 19 league appearances for Olympic, including an appearance off the bench in the side's one-nil grand final loss to Marconi before starting in Olympic's two-nil cup final loss to Adelaide City. With Englishman Mick Hickman replacing coach Eddie Thomson early in the 1989/90 season, Bernal became one of the star defenders in the league, consistently cutting out opposition attacks alongside Tony Spyridakos in the heart of the Olympic defence. 

Bernal played in consecutive NSL Cup Finals as Olympic lost four-one to South Melbourne before helping Olympic reach back-to-back NSL Grand Finals. Bernal's tidy work in defence laid the foundation for Olympic's opening goal in the grand final before the side went on to beat Marconi two-nil to claim their first NSL Championship. 

Following his successful NSL season, Bernal became a Socceroos regular during 1990 after making his full international debut against Indonesia in the final of the Merlion Cup. Despite a solid 1990/91 season, Olympic's penchant for drawing games saw them narrowly miss out on the finals series for just the second time in eight seasons. Bernal helped Olympic finish second in the 1991/92 season before they lost to Adelaide City in the minor semi-final. Over the next two seasons, injuries took their toll as the defender played just 30 league games out of Olympic's 54.

Following the 1993/94 season, Mick Hickman returned to England and arranged a transfer for Bernal, who signed for First Division side Reading despite medical advice opposing a continuance of his playing career. Bernal became a regular at Reading and helped the side finish second in his first season before playing in their narrow loss to Bolton for promotion to the Premier League. In his second season at the club, Bernal became the first Australian to captain an English club and remained an influential player at Reading over the next five season when they competed in the both the First and Second Divisions. 

A serious injury midway through the 1999/00 season forced Bernal to hang up his boots at the age of 33. Following his playing career, Bernal became a player agent, firstly representing a young Tim Cahill before a high profile stint with David Beckham during his time at Real Madrid. Bernal has represented a number of Australian players including Carl Valeri and Tom Rogic and became a high performance coach in Canberra.