Thomas Carl Veart (born 21 May 1970) is an Australian former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who was most recently the head coach for

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...

Early life

Veart was born on 21 May 1970 from the town of

Whyalla Whyalla is a city in South Australia. It was founded as Hummock's Hill, and was known by that name until 1916. It is the fourth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier, and Gawler, and along ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. Veart played various sports growing up, playing

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

Aussie rules Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by kic ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

at home. Veart began playing soccer at the age of four and joined a local club in the under-9s. After progressing through youth level, Veart made his debut in senior soccer at the age of 15. At 17 years old, Veart initially pursued an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

before moving to

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

to pursue football. He spent his early senior years at Salisbury United for two years before moving to

Adelaide City Adelaide City Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club based in Oakden, a north-eastern suburb of Adelaide. The club was a founding member of the now-defunct National Soccer League (NSL) and currently competes in the National Premier ...

under the mentorship of

Zoran Matić Zoran Matić OAM (; born 25 December 1944) is a Serbian former footballer and coach. Biography Playing career After arriving in Adelaide 1973 from Yugoslavia Matić played for Beograd Woodville (White City) before moving to Adelaide City. W ...

. Veart considers Matić as his biggest influence both as a player and coach.

Club career

England

Sheffield United

On 22 July 1994, Veart moved to England to sign with

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

for a

transfer fee In professional football, a transfer is the action taken whenever a player under contract moves between clubs. It refers to the transferring of a player's registration from one association football club to another. In general, the players can onl ...

of £150,000. On 5 November 1995, he netted two goals to secure a 4–1 victory over

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. On 9 September, Veart scored the winning goal in the match against Norwich which saw five Norwich players booked. On 18 January 1996, Veart scored the winning goal in a shock 1–0 win against Arsenal in the FA Cup third round. Veart scored through a header, assisted by

Dane Whitehouse Dane Lee Whitehouse (born 14 October 1970) is an English former footballer who played in the Football League for Sheffield United. Whitehouse was an accomplished left winger, who was equally comfortable filling in at left back. He served his on ...

, to pass goalkeeper

David Seaman David Andrew Seaman (born 19 September 1963) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. In a career lasting from 1981 to 2004, he is best known for his time playing for Arsenal. He won 75 caps for England, and is the country ...

in the 68th minute. By this time, he fell out with new manager

Howard Kendall Howard Kendall (22 May 1946 – 17 October 2015) was an English footballer and manager. Kendall joined Preston North End as an apprentice and stayed with the club when he turned professional. He was a runner-up in the 1964 FA Cup with Preston ...

and soon departed to join former coach

Dave Bassett David Thomas Bassett (born 4 September 1944 in Stanmore) is an English football manager and a former player. Bassett won a total of seven promotions and is one of a select number of managers who took charge of over 1,000 matches. After a playi ...

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

Crystal Palace

On 27 December 1996, Veart scored his first goal for Palace, netting past Australian keeper

Andy Petterson Andrew Keith Petterson (born 26 September 1969) is an Australian former soccer player and coach who is a goalkeeping coach for East Bengal. As a player he was a goalkeeper who played most of his career in England and notably played in the Pre ...

, in a 2–1 win against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

. Veart went on to score six goals in nine games, helping his side towards

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

and earned the nickname "goal machine" by the Palace faithful. In the 1997–98 season, after six appearances in the top flight and struggling for playing time, Veart was sold to

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

for a fee of £100,000 in December 1997.

Adelaide United

After a five-year stint with former club

, Veart joined

in their inaugural season in the 2003–04 NSL season. He made his debut at

Hindmarsh Stadium Hindmarsh Stadium (also known as Coopers Brewery, Coopers Stadium under naming rights) is a multi-purpose stadium in Hindmarsh, South Australia, Hindmarsh, an inner western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is the home of the Australian ...

on 17 October 2003, scoring United's first goal in their history in a 1–0 win against

Brisbane Strikers Brisbane Strikers Football Club is an Australian semi-professional football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in 1991 as Brisbane United, the club competed in the National Soccer League until the 2003–04 season. Brisbane Strikers ...

, in front of a sell-out crowd of 15,568. He helped his side to a top-four position on the table, scoring a brace in a 4–3 win over

Melbourne Knights Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, the second-tier of the Australian soccer league ...

on 8 February 2004. Veart went on to score in both legs of the

elimination final Elimination may refer to: Science and medicine *Elimination reaction, an organic reaction in which two functional groups split to form an organic product *Bodily waste elimination, discharging feces, urine, or foreign substances from the body ...

against Brisbane Strikers, importantly in the second leg where his side lost 4–1, clinching qualification on

away goals The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

to the

semi-final A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

. He finished his debut season as the club top goalscorer with 12 goals in 27 appearances. Ahead of the newly established A-League, Veart scored the maiden goal of the competition in a 1–0 opening day victory over

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...

EnergyAustralia Stadium Newcastle International Sports Centre, currently known as McDonald Jones Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose sports stadium located in Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, Australia. The ground is home to the Newcastle Knight ...

. On 28 October 2005, he scored the only goal in a decisive win over

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...

to send his side to the top of the table. His side continue their dominance at the top, as Veart scored the equaliser in the 76th minute of a 2–1 away win against Newcastle on 2 December. At the end of the season, he was named Adelaide United's Player of the Season and nominated for the

Johnny Warren Medal The Johnny Warren Medal is awarded to the best player of the Australian national soccer club competition. It was first awarded in the National Soccer League in 1990, and upon the NSL's demise in November 2004, was carried forward into the new na ...

International career

He made his debut for the Socceroos in 1992 and played 18 'A' matches, scoring 7 goals.

Managerial career

He works at Adelaide United, as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Honours

Adelaide United * A-League Premiership: 2005–2006 Adelaide City * NSL Championship: 1991–1992, 1993–1994 *

NSL Cup The National Soccer League Cup (known most commonly as the NSL Cup) was an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Australian soccer organised by the Australian Soccer Federation between 1977 and 1997. History The NSL Cup was or ...

: 1989, 1991–1992 Australia *

OFC Nations Cup The OFC Men's Nations Cup, known as the OFC Nations Cup before the 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup, 2024 edition, is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's natio ...

: runner-up

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Managerial statistics

References

External links

Adelaide United profile

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Veart, Carl 1970 births Living people People from Whyalla Men's association football forwards Australian men's soccer players Australian expatriate men's soccer players Australia men's international soccer players A-League Men players FFSA Super League players Premier League players Salisbury United FC players Adelaide City FC players Adelaide United FC players Crystal Palace F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players National Soccer League (Australia) players Olympic soccer players for Australia Expatriate men's footballers in England Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Footballers at the 1992 Summer Olympics 1998 OFC Nations Cup players A-League Men managers Adelaide United FC managers Australian soccer managers