Harry Baird (17 August 1913 – 22 May 1973) was a Northern Irish

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 for, among others, Linfield,

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 ...

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. The ...

and

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. He was born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, at the time part of the country of Ireland. As an international, Baird was also called up by both Ireland teams – FAI XI and the IFA XI – but only played for the latter.

Playing career

Club career

After a successful career with Linfield, where he won an Irish League title and

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

, Baird was signed by

in January 1937 for a fee of £3,500. He joined a struggling side and could do little to prevent United from being relegated at the end of the 1936–37 season. However the following season, together with

Johnny Carey John Joseph Carey (23 February 1919 – 22 August 1995) was an Irish professional footballer and manager. As a player, Carey spent most of his career at Manchester United, where he was team captain from 1946 until he retired as a player in 1953 ...

Jack Rowley John Frederick Rowley (7 October 1918 – 28 June 1998) was an English footballer who played as a forward from the 1930s to the 1950s, mainly remembered for a 17-year spell with Manchester United. He was nicknamed "The Gunner" because of his p ...

Tommy Breen Tommy Breen (27 April 1912 – 1 March 1988) was an Irish footballer who played as a goalkeeper for, among others, Belfast Celtic, Manchester United, Linfield and Shamrock Rovers. Breen was a dual international and played for both Ireland t ...

Stan Pearson Stanley Clare Pearson (11 January 1919 – 20 February 1997) was an English footballer. Born in Salford, Lancashire, Pearson was signed by Manchester United as an amateur in December 1935 and turned professional in May 1937. His first senior ga ...

and

Tommy Bamford Thomas Bamford (2 November 1905 – 12 December 1967) was a Welsh professional footballer. During his career, he made over 200 appearances in the Football League, most notably for Wrexham, where he remains the club's all-time top goalscorer. He a ...

, he helped United gain promotion back to the First Division. Together with Bamford, he finished as United's joint top goalscorer that season, both players scoring 15 goals each. Baird then joined

in September 1938 and while there helped them reach the semi-final of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

in 1939. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Baird served in the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and guested with several clubs, including his former club Linfield and

, who he would eventually sign for when the war finished. At the time Ipswich were playing in the English Third Division South. Baird made his debut for Ipswich on 31 August 1946 in an away game against

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

. He went on to make 216 league appearances for Ipswich, scoring six goals. He also played a further 18 games and scored a further goal for them in the

. Baird retired as a player during the 1951–52 season, making his final appearance for Ipswich at Crystal Palace on 20 October 1951. He subsequently became a coach at the club.

Irish international

When Baird was playing there were, in effect, two Ireland teams, chosen by two rival associations. Both associations, the Northern Ireland-based

IFA IFA or Ifa may refer to: Organisations Economics * Independent financial adviser, a type of financial services professional in the UK * Index Fund Advisors * Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, representing actuaries in the UK * Institute of Act ...

and the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...

-based FAI claimed jurisdiction over the whole of Ireland and selected players from the whole island. As a result, several notable Irish players from this era played for both teams. However each association challenged the selection policy of their rival and Baird found himself caught in the middle of one of several disputes. In May 1938, Baird, together with

Jackie Brown ''Jackie Brown'' is a 1997 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, based on Elmore Leonard's 1992 novel ''Rum Punch.'' It stars Pam Grier as Jackie Brown, a flight attendant who is caught smuggling money. Samuel L. Ja ...

and Walter McMillen, was one of three Northern Ireland-born players called up by the FAI XI to play in two friendlies against

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. However the IFA objected and Baird subsequently received a telegram from the

English FA The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

ordering him not to accept the offer on the grounds he was not born in the

. Baird was bitterly disappointed at missing the chance of an international debut and was keen to play for financial reasons as much as anything. He was neutral about the dispute and was willing to play for either team. However facing suspension from the English FA, he eventually declined the FAI offer. While playing for

, Baird subsequently made his only appearance for the IFA XI on 16 November 1938, in a 7–0 defeat to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

. The Second World War effectively put an end to Baird's international career. Earlier while playing for Linfield, Baird also represented the

Irish League XI The Irish League representative team was the representative side of the Irish Football League, the national league for football in Northern Ireland from 1922 and, prior to that the league for Ireland. The Irish League was suspended from 1941–42 t ...

on two occasions in 1936. He scored on his debut against the

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

at Ibrox and then later assisted them to a 3–2 win against the English League XI.

Honours

;Linfield * Irish League (1): 1934–35 *

(1): 1936

Sources

*''The Boys in Green – The FAI International Story'' (1997): Sean Rya

External links

Northern Ireland's Footballing GreatsBangor FC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baird, Harry 1913 births 1973 deaths Derby County F.C. wartime guest players Association football midfielders Association football forwards Grimsby Town F.C. wartime guest players Halifax Town A.F.C. wartime guest players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. wartime guest players Ipswich Town F.C. players NIFL Premiership players Linfield F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Association footballers from Northern Ireland Association footballers from Belfast Pre-1950 IFA international footballers English Football League players Ulster Scots people Irish League representative players Royal Air Force personnel of World War II