Adelaide-born Michael Marrone plied his trade at local clubs Adelaide Blue Eagles and Para Hills before joining the ranks of the Australian Institute of Sport at the tender age of 17. After making his Reds debut in 2008 and impressing during his breakthrough year at Coopers, Marrone eventually joined Chinese Super League club, Shanghai Shenxin, from Melbourne City, before returning to the Reds in 2013. With a substantial amount of professionalism and extensive experience behind him, including one appearance and one goal for the Socceroos, Marrone is a brick wall at the back for United and was a mainstay in the side which claimed an historic Championship and Premiership double in 2016. With ample versatility to play as a right or left full-back, or even on the rare occasion as a centre-half – Marrone is the epitome of consistency and reliability. He can even cause numerous problems for opposition defences when streaming forward.
