Richie Baker (born 17 April 1980) is an Irish former

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 ...

. Besides the Republic of Ireland, he has played in the United States.

Career

Richie, who served his footballing apprenticeship with Stella Maris, is the brother of

Dessie Baker Desmond "Dessie" Baker (born 25 August 1977 in Dublin) is an Irish footballer who plays for Leinster Senior League side Edenderry Town. He has three children. Early career From Tallaght Baker was a graduate of Dublin youth clubs Marks Celti ...

, alongside whom he made numerous appearances for Shelbourne in the late 1990s and early 2000s (decade). Richie made his

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

and Shelbourne debut at the age of 18 against Shamrock Rovers in August 1998. During this period, Baker was an important part of the Irish national team youth teams, playing for the U-18's, U-20's, and U-21's. He represented his country at the

UEFA U-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UE ...

in Sweden in 1999 where he won a bronze medal. Baker is the only player to have won 2

PFAI Young Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland Players' Young Player of the Year (often called the PFAI Players' Young Player of the Year, the PFAI Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) award is given to the footb ...

awards. The highlight of Baker's career was arguably his 83rd minute free-kick which earned Shelbourne a 1–0 victory away to Sloga Jugomagnat of the

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

in a Champions League qualifying match on 12 July 2000 []. This represented the first away victory achieved by an League of Ireland, Irish side in European competition for almost two decades. Shels won the tie 2–1 but were eliminated by Norwegian champions Rosenborg in the second qualifying round. Richie won both the

championship and the FAI Cup with Shels in 1999/2000 and three further league titles with them in 2001/02, 2003, and 2006. He spent the 2004 season with the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compe ...

of Major League Soccer before returning to Shels for the beginning of the 2005 season. He was sent off in the last game of the 2006 season versus Bohemians but Shels still went on to win the game and clinch the title. Following Shelbourne's financial meltdown at the end of 2006, Baker signed for

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Dhroichead Átha Aontaithe) is a semi-professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches ...

for the 2007 season. Baker picked up his fifth league title when United were crowned League of Ireland Premier Division champions at the end of the 2007 season. Baker spent two seasons at Drogheda United before financial problems at the County Louth club curtailed his spell. Despite training with Bohemians and

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

during 2009 pre-season Baker failed to find a new club to continue professional football. On 9 February 2009 Baker made a return to Shelbourne, now playing in the First Division, for a third spell where he was re-united with his former Shels boss Dermot Keely. He struggled for fitness on his return to Shelbourne but still made 25 league and cup appearances for Shelbourne in 2009, scoring 5 goals. Baker was not offered a new contract by Shelbourne at the end of the 2009 season and on 4 March 2010 he signed for Bray Wanderers.Richie Baker signs for Wanderers
www.braywanderers.ie Interesting Fact: Richie's favourite number is 11. The reason for this is a mystery.

Honours

Club

;Shelbourne *

(4): 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2003, 2006 * FAI Cup (1): 2000 ;Drogheda United *

(1): 2007 Rosemount Mulvey F.C. LSL Premier Saturday (1) 2018 Lynch Cup (1) 2018

Individual

(2): 1998-99, 1999-2000

References

External links

Richie Baker's profile at www.extratime.ieRichie Baker's profile at www.shelbournefc.comRichie Baker's profile at www.droghedaunited.ie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Richie 1980 births Living people Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers League of Ireland players Shelbourne F.C. players New England Revolution players Irish emigrants to the United States Drogheda United F.C. players Bray Wanderers F.C. players Major League Soccer players Stella Maris F.C. players Association football midfielders