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| Wayne Heath |
 Wayne E. Heath was born on Thursday, 28th April, 1983, in Brisbane, Queensland. The 5' 10½ (12st 0lbs) defender joined Gerry Britton & Derek Whyte's Thistle for a trial period in July, 2004, having most recently been with Brisbane Strikers. Aged 21, 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 Wayne 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 club list included Brisbane Strikers, Partick Thistle, Bonnyrigg White Eagles, Basingstoke Town, Universitatea Craiova, Wollongong Wolves, Brisbane Olympic United and Pine Rivers United. |
 A number of trialists were invited along for a pre-season tour of Cyprus in July 2004, including this young Australian, keen to get a taste of British football. 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 [sic], who played a part in both games." It turns out that 'Matt' was a red-herring for 'Wayne' [!] and it's not known if he 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 Wayne Heath for Thistle in that game but, somewhat confusingly, Matt Heath of Leicester City lined up at #5 for the opposition (a completely different player). Wayne had spent 4 years with his hometown team, Brisbane Strikers in the National Soccer League, the forerunner to the current A-League and, just 7 months before his trial at Thistle, he had represented Ange Postecoglou's Young Socceroos at the 2003 U-20 World Cup, held in the United Arab Emirates. Wayne starred as the Aussies beat Brazil 3-2 in the group stages, before being bundled out by the host country in the round of 16. Future Jag Scott McDonald was his teammate, it's a small world! Post-Thistle, Wayne returned home to Australia, but he had another crack at European football in his mid 20s, playing in England and Romania for 18 months before returning home once more, where he's a well respected figure in the game. He later went into coaching and management, and led Pine Rivers to a Capital League 1 Premiership title, giving him an early leg up the managerial ladder. |
| (WS) |