Hugh Baird (14 March 1930 – 19 June 2006) was a Scottish

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

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

and

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. He also represented the

Scotland national football team The Scotland national football team gd, Sgioba Ball-coise Nàiseanta na h-Alba sco, Scotland National Fitbaa Team represents Scotland in men's international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the t ...

on one occasion against Austria at Hampden Park. Glasgow. Baird started his professional playing career aged 21 with Scottish Football League side

, whom he joined from Dalry Thistle. A striker, he quickly gained a reputation as a prolific goal scorer. In 1957

signed him for £12,000 but he only stayed one season in England. In 1958 Aberdeen paid a then club record transfer fee of £11,500 to ensure his return north. He stayed with Aberdeen until 1962 making 86 appearances for the ''Dons''. Baird continued playing football for another 5 years following his departure from

Pittodrie Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for Association football, football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) club Aberdeen ...

, enjoying a very brief spell with

Brechin City Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club w ...

and not featuring in the Brechin first team, before moving into the Highland Football League for longer spells with Deveronvale FC, the Banff Highland League Club, followed by a three-year spell at Rothes FC on Speyside, Morayshire, before retiring from football, aged 36, to become a bricklayer. Both Highland League clubs were in convenient rail commuting distance from his home in Aberdeen where he had settled following his transfer from Leeds United, and where he lived with his family until his death in June 2006 at 76 years of age. Baird made one appearance for the Scotland national side in May 1956 at

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. He only received an

international cap In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

in 2006, after a successful campaign was started by

Gary Imlach Gary Imlach (born 1960, at West Bridgford in Nottinghamshire) is a British author, journalist and broadcaster, specialising in sport. After first being known as a sports presenter on TV-am, Imlach has particularly become associated with non-main ...

calling for his father and other affected players (including Baird) to receive caps. Until the early 1970s, the SFA did not award caps to players for matches other than those in the

British Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

London Hearts profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baird, Hugh 1930 births 2006 deaths Aberdeen F.C. players Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players Men's association football forwards Brechin City F.C. players Dalry Thistle F.C. players Deveronvale F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Rothes F.C. players Scotland men's international footballers Scottish Football League players Scottish men's footballers Footballers from Bellshill English Football League players Scottish league football top scorers Scottish Junior Football Association players