Raymond Henry "Ray" Baartz (born 6 March 1947) is an Australian former soccer player. He represented Australia 48 times, scoring 18 goals, making him the 8th highest goal scorer of all time. Baartz was born in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and spent his early years playing for Adamstown. At 17 he joined

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

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. Baartz was selected in the Australian squad to play in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

finals in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...

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 Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and association fo ...

. The blow to his throat had damaged his carotid artery. Ray currently still lives in Newcastle.

Awards and recognition

Baartz was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser t ...

in 1985. Baartz Terrace in the Sydney suburb of Glenwood is named for him. On 5 December 2000, Baartz was awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

for services to soccer. On 12 July 2012, Baartz was named in the Greatest ever Australian team.

References

External links

Oz Football profile
* * * 1947 births Living people Australian men's soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australia men's international soccer players Hakoah Sydney City East FC players Soccer players from Newcastle, New South Wales Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Manchester United F.C. players Men's association football forwards {{Australia-footy-forward-stub