Huddersfield Town's Dean Heffernan has get-out clause for Melbourne Heart contract

Feb 13 2010 by Dougie Thomson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

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Heffernan, who was forced off after 74 minutes against Carlisle, his second Town appearance, explained: “I set up the Melbourne contract as some long-term security.

“But I started planning for the possibility of coming over to England a year ago, long before I spoke to Heart, so I built some flexibility into the agreement.”

Heffernan was involved in the A-League from the outset in 2005-06, when he helped Central Coast reached the inaugural play-off final (they were beaten 1-0 by Sydney FC).

He spent the following season at German club Nuremburg, but returned to Central Coast for 2007-08, when they finished top of the table but again lost 1-0 in the play-off final, this time to Newcastle Jets.

Heffernan missed the second half of that season after breaking a leg, but was back for the next campaign, and left Central Coast last month having played 83 times, scoring 10 goals.

He also played for Wollongong Wolves and home-city club Sydney United in the forerunner of the A-League.