He then returned to Hibernian on a permanent basis, and made more than 100 appearances in a five-year stint there that included a loan spell with Stockport County.

On leaving school in 1994, Brebner signed for Manchester United as an apprentice, playing in the FA Youth Cup winning side of 1995 and turning professional soon after.

[3][4] It is hard leaving home at 16, but if I had not accepted the offer to go to Manchester United I knew I would have regretted it for the rest of my career.

A further loan spell was spent back in Edinburgh at Hibernian (a team he grew up supporting), where Brebner suffered relegation at the end of the 1997–98 season.

[3][7] Despite the club's relegation, manager Alex McLeish praised his performance, due to "his composure and awareness in matches and has good attitude".

[12] Brebner's first goal after signing for the club on a permanent basis came on 29 January 2000, in a 4–1 win against Dunfermline Athletic in the third round of the Scottish FA Cup.

[18] Brebner went on to score seven goals in the 2002–03 season, including a hat-trick against future employers Dundee United in a Scottish Cup match on 25 January 2003.

[19] In his final season at Hibernian, Brebner was latterly club captain at Hibs,[9] and was a senior player in the side with young stars like Kevin Thomson and Scott Brown.

[21] The club appealed for Brebner's red card to be overturned by the Scottish Football Association, which was successful after a review.

[23] However in a Scottish Cup match against Rangers on 10 January 2004, Brebner suffered an injury in the 12th minutes, and was substituted, as the club lost 2–0.

[39] Brebner came on as a trialist and scored for Victory with seconds remaining, in the QNI North Queensland Challenge Trophy game versus Central Coast Mariners on 18 June 2006.

[40] In Victory's second match on 20 June 2006, Brebner completed the full 90 minutes, playing in a 3–1 win over Chinese team Changchun Yatai.

[41] Brebner completed a successful trial period by netting a 28-yard free-kick as Victory won the trophy with a 6–1 win over the Chinese team in the final, on 24 June.

[44] Brebner scored his first goal for Melbourne Victory, in what turns out to be a late winner, in a 1–0 win against Perth Glory on 9 November 2006.

Following this, Brebner received Australian residency status at the start of 2009, which meant he no longer counted towards the Victory's overseas player quota.

[60] Initially sidelined with ankle injury for six weeks, he returned to the first team on 27 December 2009, coming on as a second-half substitute, in a 1–0 lost against North Queensland Fury.

[62] In the A-League Grand Final against Sydney FC, he and Leigh Broxham were the only successful Melbourne Victory penalty taker when the club lost 4–2 after the match was played 120 minutes with a 1–1 draw.

[67] In absent of Muscat, Brebner captained the club against Sydney FC on 15 January 2011, as Melbourne Victory drew 1–1.

[70] It wasn't until on 27 November 2011 when Brebner made his return from injury, coming on as a 73rd minute substitute, in a 3–2 win against Gold Coast United.

[71] However, he received a red card for a second bookable offence, in a 0–0 draw against Melbourne Heart on 4 February 2012, in what turns out to be his last appearance for the club.

He was sacked as head coach shortly after Victory's 7–0 loss to local rivals Melbourne City in April 2021, a result which came only a month and a half after losing 6–0 to the same team.