Horace Anthony Baker (1 September 1910 – 1 March 1974) was an English

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 ...

who played at

outside-right Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

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 ...

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

and

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

. He younger brother,

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

, was also a professional footballer.

Early and personal life

Horace Anthony Baker was the son of a former Fenton Town player and four of his brothers also played football, including the youngest

, who went on to play for Stoke City. Baker worked as a bus conductor prior to

World War II 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 opposing ...

and was working as a spot-welder when he died of a heart attack during his sleep on 1 March 1974.

Career

Baker played for Longton Hall, before joining

as an amateur in March 1932, signing professional forms two months later. He made seven

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

appearances in the 1932–33 season, scoring one goal in a 4–0 win over

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

at the

Old Recreation Ground The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England, and home to Port Vale F.C. from 1913 to 1950. It was the sixth ground the club used. Structure and facilities The stadium was in rather bad conditi ...

on 20 March. He featured just three times in the 1933–34 season, and was given a free transfer to

in May 1934. Tranmere finished sixth and third in the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

in 1934–35 and 1935–36; Baker played 23 league games at Prenton Park, scoring ten goals. He later played for

, scoring 30 goals in the Birmingham League from outside-right. He went on to sign with

, where he scored on his league debut against

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete his ...

. He lost his first-team place to Albert Stapleton after a 5–0 defeat at

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

. He later returned to Shrewsbury Town.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Horace People from Fenton, Staffordshire Footballers from Stoke-on-Trent English men's footballers Men's association football wingers Port Vale F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Southport F.C. players English Football League players 1910 births 1974 deaths