| Matt Heath |
 Matt Heath was probably born in Australia, although his place and date of birth remain unknown to us. * He joined Gerry Britton & Derek Whyte's Thistle for a trial period in July, 2004. He made his debut appearance on Thursday, 15th July, 2004, in a 9-0 friendly win away to Royal Highland Fusiliers. There were no goals for Matt during his short spell with Thistle. He played his second and last known game for the club on Saturday, 17th July, 2004, in an 18-0 friendly win away to Royal Highland Fusiliers. His known club-list includes only Partick Thistle. |
 A number of trialists were invited along for a pre-season tour of Cyprus in July 2004, including this unknown player. An unusual aspect of the trip was a visit to the British sovereign base area of Akrotiri, Cyprus, which was marked by two games against the Royal Highland Fusiliers, both of which were played at the Happy Valley Playing Fields in the Episkopi Cantonment, before a small number of locals living in the zone. Goals from (trialist) Ritchie Pacquette (4), John Gemmell, Willie Howie, Andy Ross, Steve Fulton & Andy S. Gibson gave Thistle a healthy first-leg advantage! Two days later, Thistle's all-time record scoreline was set at the same venue. An o.g. as well goals from John Gemmell (4), Matthew Shields (3), (trialist) Ritchie Pacquette (3), Gerry Britton (2), (trialist) Nigel Jemson, Willie Howie, Andy Ross, Manny Panther & Kenny Milne made for a 27-0 aggregate win! Co-manager Gerry Britton spoke to ptfc.co.uk and commented: "The standard of the opposition was obviously very poor, but it allowed all the players in the squad to get time in a match sitaution with the ball, and we have come through with no injuries and a good chance to look at some trialists. We were pleased with young Aussie Matt Heath, who played a part in both games." it's not known if Matt took part in the game at Paphos a few days later. 6 days on from that (Mon-26-Jul-2004) Thistle were back in action at Firhill, Leicester City the visitors. There was no sign of Matt Heath for Thistle in that game but, somewhat confusingly, Matt Heath of Leicester City lined up at #5 for the opposition! Is it all possible that these two are one and the same player? If so, the 'young Aussie' reference would not hold up, as he was a 22-year-old and Leicester through-and-through. It seems unlikely as Heath was a regular for Leicester and probably out of our price range. |
| (WS) |