Rocky Baptiste (born 8 July 1972) is a retired English football striker.

Career

Born in

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history ...

, London, he went to secondary school at Neasden High School. Baptiste was a junior at

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

and Brentford, but failed to earn a professional contract.

Hayes to Luton

After initially playing for

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont and Kenton, and east of Headstone. The area accommodates ...

, Baptiste made his breakthrough with Hayes in 2000, where he scored six goals in 14 league games and caught the eye of

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

. At a struggling Luton, he made three league substitute appearances without scoring. When

Joe Kinnear Joseph Patrick Kinnear (born 27 December 1946) is an Irish former football manager and player. Kinnear played as a defender, spending the majority of his career—ten seasons—with Tottenham Hotspur. With Tottenham he won the FA Cup, the EFL ...

became manager, Baptiste fell out of favour and made a return to Hayes on loan for the rest of the season.

Farnborough

During the close season, Baptiste signed for

Farnborough Town Farnborough Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. Founded in 1967 as Farnborough Town, they are currently members of the , the sixth tier of English football and play at Cherrywood Road. H ...

, where he stayed for two years scoring a total of 30 goals in 49 appearances, including Farnborough's lone strike in 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 ...

fourth round defeat to Arsenal.

Stevenage and Margate

In the summer of 2003, Baptiste joined

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...

, following manager

Graham Westley Graham Neil Westley (born 4 March 1968) is an English former professional footballer and manager who was most recently manager of League Two club Stevenage. Westley's playing career, spent mostly as a striker in non-League football, was curt ...

's move, where he stayed until February 2004 scoring four league goals. Baptiste moved on to

Margate Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significan ...

, scoring five goals.

Gravesend & Northfleet and Havant & Waterlooville

After a short spell with Gravesend & Northfleet, Baptiste moved to

Havant & Waterlooville Havant & Waterlooville Football Club is a professional football club based in Havant, Hampshire, England. The club participates in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football, after relegation from the National League in the ...

in August 2005. Baptiste scored the equaliser at the

Liberty Stadium The Swansea.com Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Swansea.com; formerly Liberty Stadium) is an all-seated sports stadium and conferencing venue located in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. The stadium opened in 2005 and was named the Liberty Stadium. It ...

that forced a replay with Swansea City in the third round of the 2008

. He also went on to score in the shock 4–2 replay victory that helped them into the fourth round against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. In September 2008, he left Havant & Waterlooville to play for Maidenhead United, spending the first half of the season there before signing for AFC Wimbledon on 31 March 2009.

Harrow Borough

He joined Harrow Borough in the summer of 2009. While playing for Harrow, Baptiste infamously missed an open goal after taking the ball past the opposition defence and goalkeeper. He was inside the six-yard box and just a few inches from the goal line when he smashed the ball on to the left-hand post. At the end of both the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons he finished as top scorer for Borough, scoring 22 league goals in each season. In 2010–11, he led Boro to the playoffs where he scored twice but Boro lost in extra time. He scored a total of 28 goals for Borough in the 2010–11 season. He left Harrow Borough in the summer of 2011 joining

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The ...

of the Conference South. However, before the end of August he was back in the Isthmian League with Kingstonian.

Wingate & Finchley

Baptiste scored on his debut for Isthmian League team Wingate & Finchley from the substitute bench on 20 October 2012 against Lewes in a 3–1 defeat. In October 2013 he moved on to Eastbourne Town.

Eastbourne Town

Rocky played eight games for Eastbourne Town seven in the Isthmian League scoring two goals and one appearance in the FA Trophy.

References

External links

Profile at Havant & Waterlooville official website
*
Profile at soccerfactsuk.co.ukFans memory of Baptiste at lutonfc.comProfile on Harrow Borough official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baptiste, Rocky English footballers 1972 births Living people People from Neasden Association football forwards Wealdstone F.C. players Hayes F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Farnborough F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Margate F.C. players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players Havant & Waterlooville F.C. players Maidenhead United F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Harrow Borough F.C. players Thurrock F.C. players Kingstonian F.C. players Wingate & Finchley F.C. players Eastbourne Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players