Raymond Henry "Ray" Baartz (born 6 March 1947) is an Australian former soccer player who played as a forward. He represented Australia 48 times between 1967 and 1974, scoring 18 goals, making him the nation's eighth-highest goal scorer of all time.
Baartz 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.
Baartz was selected in the Australian squad to play in the World Cup finals in 1974[2] but his career was prematurely ended after he was felled by a blow from Uruguay's Luis Garisto (known as el Loco (in English crazy)) in a friendly international fixture at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The blow to his throat had damaged his carotid artery.[3]
Ray currently still lives in Newcastle.
Baartz was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985.[4]
Baartz Terrace in the Sydney suburb of Glenwood is named for him.[5]
On 5 December 2000, Baartz was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for services to soccer.[6]
On 12 July 2012, Baartz was named in the Greatest ever Australian team.[7]
...streets are named after well known football identities...
.svg){kind=small}  | This biographical article related to a soccer forward from Australia is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
