James Edward Baker (5 May 1904 – 1979) was a Welsh

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 as a wing half. He made appearances for league clubs Wolverhampton Wanderers,

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

and

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

, also playing for Lovell's Athletic and Colchester United.

Career

Born in

Trethomas Trethomas ( en, Thomastown) is a small village northeast of Caerphilly, southeast Wales, situated in the Caerphilly county borough, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. It neighbours Bedwas and Machen, and forms a council ward in co ...

, Baker played for the works team for non-league Lovell's sweet manufacturers Lovell's Athletic, before signing for Second Division side Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1926, making his

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 ...

debut on 30 April 1927 in a 2–1 win over

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

. Baker remained at Molineux for three seasons but only managed 17 appearances in total during this period, 16 of which were in the league. He joined

in 1929, where he would go on to have two spells, interspersed by a return to Lovell's Athletic. Baker made over 108 league appearances for Coventry before moving to

in January 1935. His Bristol City stint saw Baker play in only 10 games and so signed for newly formed Southern League club Colchester United in 1937, making his debut in a match against

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

on 23 September 1937. He made 52 appearances in all competitions for the U's, scoring three times and aiding the club to the Southern League Cup in 1937–38 and the league title in 1938–39. He retired from playing following his stay at Colchester, playing his last match on 11 March 1939 against Swindon Town Reserves.

Honours

;Colchester United *1937–38 Southern League Cup winner *1938–39 Southern League winner :''All honours referenced by:''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Jimmy 1904 births 1979 deaths Footballers from Caerphilly Men's association football wing halves Welsh men's footballers Lovell's Athletic F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Date of death missing