Frank Baker (22 October 1918 – 10 December 1989) was a

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

. He made 174 appearances for Stoke, scoring 33 goals. His elder brother,

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

, also played professional football.

Early and personal life

Frank Baker was born in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

as the son of a former Fenton Town player and four of his brothers also played football, including elder brother

Career

Baker earned his living driving a laundry van whilst playing for

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

's reserves as an amateur. His performances for Vale's second string caught the attention for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

and on one evening manager Frank Buckley was due to travel to Vale to sign Baker. But

manager

Bob McGrory Robert Gerald McGrory (17 October 1891 – 24 May 1954) was a Scottish footballer who played in the Football League for Burnley and Stoke City with whom he later had a long spell as manager. McGrory played football with Dumbarton before joining ...

caught wind of the potential transfer and arrived earlier and persuaded Baker to sign for Stoke instead. He spent the 1936–37 season in Stoke's reserves, making only the occasional first team appearance due to England international Joe Johnson occupying left-wing position. But he managed to get his chance one match into the 1937–38 season as Johnson injured his ankle and Baker took full advantage. He linked up well with his centre forward

Freddie Steele Freddie Steele (December 18, 1912 – August 22, 1984) was a boxer and film actor born Frederick Earle Burgett in Seattle, Washington. He was recognized as the National Boxing Association (NBA) Middleweight Champion of the World between 1936 ...

providing him with many crosses and he also chipped in with 12 goals and scored a further 10 in 1938–39. He was called up for army duty in 1939 and therefore played few matches for Stoke in the War League, although he did guest for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and Northern Irish club Linfield. He played for Stoke against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

during the

Burnden Park disaster The Burnden Park disaster was a human crush that occurred on 9 March 1946 at Burnden Park football stadium, then the home of Bolton Wanderers. The crush resulted in the deaths of 33 people and injuries to hundreds of Bolton fans. It was the de ...

on 9 March 1946, and broke down in tears on the final whistle. When League football resumed in 1946–47, Baker had competition in the form of the hunchback

Alexander Ormston Alexander Ormston (10 February 1919 – 12 July 1975) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Stoke City. Career Ormston attended Wellington Road school where he was captain of the Hanley boys and Stoke-on-Trent schools ...

. McGrory decided to move Baker to inside left to replace the retired

Tommy Sale Thomas Sale (30 April 1910 – 10 November 1990) was an English footballer who played as a forward. Born in Stoke-on-Trent, Sale had two spells at his home town club, Stoke City, amassing 483 appearances, either side of a two-year stint at Bla ...

, and although his goalscoring suffered the pair formed one of the best left wing combinations in the country which nearly helped Stoke win the First Division title – the "Potters" their must win match against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

2–1. Baker then suffered a crop of serious injuries which ended his career, in August 1947 he broke his arm against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and missed most of the 1947–48 season. He broke his leg against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

in October 1948 and then fractured it again at Wolves five games into his comeback in April 1949. In all, Baker broke bones five times in two years. After spending a year in rehabilitation he retired in the Summer of 1951 on the advice of doctors. He then ran a

fish and chips Fish and chips is a popular hot dish consisting of fried fish in crispy batter, served with chips. The dish originated in England, where these two components had been introduced from separate immigrant cultures; it is not known who created t ...

shop in Fenton for many years, coached Stoke's 'A' team and managed non-league Foley until his death in 1989 at the age of 71.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Frank Footballers from Stoke-on-Trent English footballers Association football forwards Stoke City F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. wartime guest players Port Vale F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Leek Town F.C. players English Football League players Association football coaches 1918 births 1989 deaths