Tracey Wheeler

Personal Details Date of Birth: 26 September 1967 Place of Birth: Sydney, Australia Height: 180cm (5' 11") Position: Goalkeeper Club Summary Club Games Goals Wentworthville Uniting Church (junior) Wenty Waratah (1981-1985) Chipping Norton (1986) Blacktown (1987-1988) Melita Eagles (1989-1990) Morley Windmills (1991-1992) Forrestfield United (1993-1994) Fremantle United (1995-1996, 1998) South Australia Sports Institute (1996-1999) Murdoch University (1999-2002) Total International Summary Games Goals Australia 'A' (1989-2000) 49 0 Australia 'B' (1991-1994) 4 0

© Australian Sports Commission

Career Brief

Tracey Wheeler is one of Western Australia's most decorated female footballers with 49 ‘A’ appearances for the nation. Born in Sydney, Wheeler played her junior days with the boys before joining Wenty Waratahs at the age of 13. She represented New South Wales at junior and youth levels before entering the State League in 1986 as a promising defender/midfielder with Chipping Norton.

It was during the first of her two years with Blacktown that Wheeler took up the goalkeeping gloves. A senior State call-up for New South Wales arrived twelve months later, and in 1989 she commenced a two-season stint between the posts for Melita Eagles. Wheeler made her debut for Australia in an Oceania Nations Cup encounter with New Zealand in March 1989. Before the year was out she'd added to that appearances against Papua New Guinea, Taiwan and Japan.

Upon relocating to Perth Wheeler joined Morley Windmills and was a key figure in her club winning back-to-back league titles. She was awarded the competition's Player of the Year in 1991 when she also wore the gloves for Western Australia at the national championship. In May 1991 Wheeler featured in World Cup qualifiers against New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, and five months later kept goal in friendly competition with New Zealand.

A serious knee injury brought Wheeler's career to a sudden halt in 1993. Following surgery she played for Forrestfield United and with a couple of strong seasons under her belt was back in national contention. Wheeler's recovery was made complete in October 1994 when she helped Australia defeat New Zealand and Papua New Guinea to qualify for the Women's World Cup.

The first half of 1995 was a very busy time with games against the United States of America, Argentina, Brazil, Canada and Scotland. Wheeler became the first West Australian to play in a FIFA-sanctioned World Cup finals tournament when she turned out against Denmark in June, with appearances against China and the United States of America in the days that followed.

On returning to club football Wheeler wore Fremantle United colours and in 1996 made the last of her 24 appearances for the State. In March 1996 she represented the nation against New Zealand and South Korea, then in July turned out against the United States of America and China. The Matilda's number one was then struck down by injury and, after a second knee reconstruction, it would be over twelve months before she next played.

A place in the South Australian Institute of Sport squad for the 1997/98 Women’s National Soccer League season completed Wheeler's recovery. SASI made the Grand Final in each of Wheeler's three seasons, the highlight of which was a 2-0 win over Canberra Eclipse in the 1998/99 title decider. She returned to the international stage prior to that for the Matilda's massive 21-0 World Cup qualifying win over American Samoa in October 1998.

Selected in Australia's squad for the 1999 World Cup, Wheeler played friendlies against the United States of America and Canada before taking the gloves against Ghana at the tournament. Further outings with China, Sweden, the United States of America, New Zealand and North Korea led into the 2000 Olympic Games. In what would prove to be her international swansong Wheeler faced the might of Germany, Sweden and Brazil as the Matildas bowed out of the event at the group stage.

After helping Murdoch win the 2001 league title Wheeler succumbed once again to a knee injury, this one leading her into retirement. The Matilda's longest serving 'keeper kept 16 clean sheets across her 49 'A' appearances, which included two Women’s World Cups. Wheeler was presented an Australian Sports Medal by the Australian Government in 2000; and eight year later entered into Hall of Champions category of the Football Hall of Fame, Western Australia, and was presented an Award of Distinction by Football Federation Australia's Hall of Fame.

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This page was last updated on the 1st July, 2011