Ray Baartz
Encyclopedia
Ray Baartz was an Australian football (soccer) player. He is a member of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
Ray was born in Newcastle
, New South Wales
and spent his early years playing for Adamstown. At 17 he joined Manchester United and after 6 months signed on a two year contract. In 1966 he returned to Australia and transferred to Sydney Hakoah for a then Australian record of ₤5600. He played 236 club matches scoring 211 goals.
He represented Australia 48 times scoring 18 goals, making him the 8th highest goal scorer of all time.
Baartz was selected in the Australian squad to play in the World Cup
finals in 1974 but his career was prematurely ended after he was felled by a blow from Uruguay's Luis Garisto
in a friendly international fixture at the Sydney Cricket Ground
. The blow to his throat had damaged his carotid artery.
Ray currently still lives in Newcastle.
Baartz Terrace in the Sydney suburb of Glenwood
is named for him.
Ray was born in Newcastle
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and spent his early years playing for Adamstown. At 17 he joined Manchester United and after 6 months signed on a two year contract. In 1966 he returned to Australia and transferred to Sydney Hakoah for a then Australian record of ₤5600. He played 236 club matches scoring 211 goals.
He represented Australia 48 times scoring 18 goals, making him the 8th highest goal scorer of all time.
Baartz was selected in the Australian squad to play in the World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
finals in 1974 but his career was prematurely ended after he was felled by a blow from Uruguay's Luis Garisto
Luis Garisto
Luis Garisto Pan is a current Uruguayan football coach who has had a professional career as both player and head coach. Luis Garisto began his professional career in 1960 with Uruguayn club C.A. Peñarol...
in a friendly international fixture at the Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
. The blow to his throat had damaged his carotid artery.
Ray currently still lives in Newcastle.
Baartz Terrace in the Sydney suburb of Glenwood
Glenwood, New South Wales
Glenwood is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Glenwood is located 40 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Blacktown...
is named for him.