Dean James Heffernan (born 19 May 1980) is a former professional

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player.

Club career

With the

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Ma ...

he scored 8 goals from left back in 24 games and was subsequently named in

FourFourTwo ''FourFourTwo'' is a football magazine published by Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4-4-2. In 2008, it was announced that ''FourFourTwo'' had e ...

's A-League dream team. In March 2006, he and teammate

Michael Beauchamp Michael Francis Beauchamp (born 8 March 1981) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a central defender. He was a member of the Australian 2006 World Cup and 2010 FIFA World Cup squads. Early life Born in Sydney, New Sout ...

had a ten-day trial with German Bundesliga club Nürnberg. On 1 July 2006, both players transferred to Nürnberg on season-long loans. Heffernan struggled to get senior games only appearing on the bench for the first team, although he played eight games in the reserves scoring five goals. Heffernan suffered a

broken leg The human leg, in the general word sense, is the entire lower limb of the human body, including the foot, thigh or sometimes even the hip or gluteal region. However, the definition in human anatomy refers only to the section of the lower li ...

during the Mariners 4–5 loss to

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

on 22 December 2007, due to a tackle by

Ufuk Talay Ufuk Talay (born 26 March 1976) is an Australian football coach and former player. Talay was suited to play in central midfield and was known for his good distribution and on-field vision. He is the current manager of Wellington Phoenix. Club ...

. As a result, he was unable to play in the rest of the 2007–08 A-League season. Since returning from fracturing his

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

, he was selected twice for the Socceroos and was a stand out for his club the Mariners in their 2010 Asian Champions League campaign. With the Central Coast Mariners in the 2009–10 he had another stand out season, where he was named in the PFA team of the year and Four Four Two team of the year. He also scored his first international goal for Australia against Kuwait. On 26 November 2009, Heffernan joined new A-league side,

Melbourne Heart Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, that plays in the A-League, the top level of Australian soccer, under licence from Australian Profession ...

on a multi-year deal.

Huddersfield Town

Prior to joining

, Heffernan joined English side

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

to help prepare for a World Cup call up for the

Socceroos The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated with ...

. He completed the deal on 28 January 2010 after receiving his international clearance. On 30 January 2010, he made his debut for the Terriers in their 1–0 win against

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

Huish Park Huish Park is a football stadium located in Yeovil, Somerset, England. The stadium has been home to Yeovil Town F.C. since its completion in 1990, following their relocation from Huish. Huish Park has a capacity of 9,565 (of which two stands ...

. His first home game for Huddersfield was in their 1–1 draw with

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

. Heffernan's last game for the Terriers was in their 4–3 win over

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

. After Town lost in the play-offs, Heffernan returned to Australia to join his new teammates at Melbourne Heart after making 15 appearances for the Terriers.

Melbourne Heart

At Heart, he played most games in the first half of the season, but after getting sent off, his position was covered by

Aziz Behich Aziz Eraltay Behich ( tr, Aziz Eraltay, ; born 16 December 1990) is an Australian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left back and Wide midfielder, left winger for Scottish club Dundee United F.C., Dundee United and th ...

and he was not included in the starting lineup for many games afterwards.

Perth Glory

On 25 February 2011, Heffernan moved to A-League side

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues. Founded in 19 ...

for the 2011–12 season. He planned to join Perth Glory for pre-season training in August after he had completed a short-term loan deal with

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

club

Liaoning Whowin Liaoning Football Club (), officially known as Liaoning Hongyun (), was a professional association football club with a long history in Chinese football. The club can predate their formation to 1953, when Shenyang government sports body joined ex ...

Liaoning Whowin

On 30 August 2011, it was announced

had agreed to release Heffernan after the player decided he would like to remain with

after the end of his loan deal.

Return to Perth Glory

On 3 January 2012 it was announced that he had returned to

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

club

Western Sydney Wanderers

On 28 June 2013, it was announced that Heffernan had signed a one-year contract to play for

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...

, following a short stint with Illawarra Premier League club Dapto Dandaloo Fury.Veteran Dean Heffernan Has Signed A One Year Deal With A-League Club Western Sydney Wanderers
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Managerial career

On 24 April 2019 Heffernan was appointed the manager of the Western Sydney Wanderers in the W-league.

Career statistics

¹Includes

A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup The A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup competition was an annual soccer tournament held for all A-League clubs in July and August in the lead up to the start of the A-League season. The competition featured a group stage and a knockout stage. ...

International career

Heffernan was selected to be part of the

in the Australia versus Argentina game on 11 September 2007. He got his first senior international cap on 28 January 2009 in an

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

qualifying match versus

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

at the

Bung Karno Stadium Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium ( id, Stadion Utama Gelora Bung Karno; literally "Bung Karno Sports Arena Main Stadium"), formerly Senayan Main Stadium and Gelora Senayan Main Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium located at the center of the Gel ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

. He was then again selected for the Socceroos in January 2010 in an AFC Asian Cup qualifying match versus

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

. Heffernan scored in the fifth minute to open his international scoring account and help his side to a 2–2 draw.

Honours

;

Premiership: 2007–08

References

External links

*
Oz Football profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heffernan, Dean 1980 births Association football fullbacks Australia international soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian expatriate sportspeople in Germany A-League Men players Western Sydney Wanderers FC players National Soccer League (Australia) players 1. FC Nürnberg II players Central Coast Mariners FC players Melbourne City FC players Sydney United 58 FC players Perth Glory FC players Liaoning F.C. players Chinese Super League players Wollongong Wolves FC players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players English Football League players Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in China Australian expatriate soccer players Soccer players from Sydney Living people National Premier Leagues players Australian soccer players