When Steve Ogrizovic and his understudy Clive Baker were injured in the spring of 1992 caretaker boss Don Howe brought in Heald on loan from Leyton Orient. He was recovering from a back injury himself at the time and only played two games, a 1-1 draw with Oldham and a 3-4 defeat at Spurs. Between 1988 and 1995 he played over 200 games for the Os and then spent nine years at Wimbledon/MK Dons but played only 45 times. He retired in 2004.