James Baird (born 25 May 1983) is a Scottish former professional
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 as a
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
. He works as goalkeeper coach for the
Trinidad and Tobago women's national team.
Playing career
After moving between a number of Scottish clubs, including
Alloa Athletic
Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire.
Formed as Alloa in 1880, the football club shortly changed its name to Alloa Association, and then to Alloa Ath ...
,
Faroese clubs and
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
Professional Football League club
Tobago United
Tobago United Football Club was a football club from Trinidad and Tobago, that played in Professional Football League of Trinidad.
The team's home stadium was Dwight Yorke Stadium, 3 km from Scarborough, Tobago's main town.
History
Ensuri ...
. He moved to Iceland in May 2017 to sign with
Snæfell/UDN.
Baird made four appearances for
Scotland U17 in 2001 and 2002.
Coaching career
Baird trained with the
British Virgin Islands national team and played for the under 23's in a small local tournament but after eligibility problems, decided against representing the senior side. There has been rumours of a return in 2016 for the Caribbean cup. Baird is also the Technical Director and goalkeeper for the West Indies Football Association.
All throughout Baird's career he has also coached whilst playing, as a young player helping out with his hometown club Broxburn Colts goalkeepers to working with Coerver as Gk coach. His first real coaching role was with MB1905 ladies team where he coached whilst playing for the club, The team did well getting promotion to the top woman's division.
Baird has also coached T&T Highlanders, The West Indies National team and Guaya United in the Trinidad and Tobago Super league.
In summer 2021 Baird was appointed goalkeeper coach of the
Trinidad and Tobago women's national team.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baird, James
1983 births
Alloa Athletic F.C. players
Association football goalkeepers
Living people
Scottish expatriate footballers
Livingston F.C. players
Scottish footballers
Stenhousemuir F.C. players
Tobago United F.C. players
TT Pro League players
Edinburgh United F.C. players
A.F.C. Totton players
Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Trinidad and Tobago
Expatriate footballers in Trinidad and Tobago
Berwick Rangers F.C. players
Sportspeople from Broxburn, West Lothian
Footballers from West Lothian