Stephen Baker (born 2 December 1961) is an English former professional association

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 as a defender.

Football career

Southampton

Born in

Wallsend Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This fo ...

, Baker was a member of the

Wallsend Boys Club Wallsend Boys Club is an English youth football club based in Wallsend, North Tyneside. The club is well known for producing professional footballers; more than 65 players from the club have gone on to play professionally, some of them even ...

where he was spotted by scouts from First Division club,

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. After a trial, he joined the

south coast South Coast is a name often given to coastal areas to the south of a geographical region or major metropolitan area. Geographical Australia *South Coast (New South Wales), the coast of New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney * South Coast (Q ...

club as an apprentice in July 1978, shortly after his 16th birthday, going on to sign a professional contract in December 1979. He made his debut for the reserves in March 1979, and for the next two seasons he shared the

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

position in the reserves with

Manny Andruszewski Emanuel Franciszek Andruszewski (born 4 October 1955) is an English former footballer who played for Southampton. He played at full back and centre back during the late 1970s. Southampton He joined Southampton as an associate schoolboy in Nov ...

, before making an "impressive" first team debut in the final game of the 1980–81 season at

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

on 13 May. With

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

international

Ivan Golac Ivan Golac ( sr-cyr, Иван Голац, ; born 15 June 1950) is a Yugoslav former professional football player and manager. A Yugoslav international right-back, he is best known as a player and manager of FK Partizan, of Belgrade. In the Unit ...

well established at right-back, Baker found first-team opportunities at The Dell rare, with only 20 appearances over the next three seasons, and in February 1984 he went on loan to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

, where he made ten Third Division appearances. He made his debut for Burnley in a 4–0 win over Lincoln City on 25 February 1984. Club manager John Bond made an offer to sign Baker on a permanent deal, but the bid was rejected by Southampton, and his loan spell was ended. By the start of the 1984–85 season, former

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

captain

Mick Mills Michael Dennis Mills MBE (born 4 January 1949) is an English former footballer who played for Ipswich Town, Southampton and Stoke City. He managed Stoke City, Colchester United and Birmingham City. During his career he achieved Ipswich To ...

was now a permanent fixture at right-back, and Baker's few appearances came on the right wing. After Mills' departure, Golac returned briefly, before Baker regained the right-back position in September 1985. After a run of ten matches, new signing

Gerry Forrest Gerald Forrest (born 21 January 1957) is an English retired footballer who played at full-back for Rotherham United and Southampton. Football career Born in Stockton-on-Tees, Forrest played his youth football with Billingham Town and was a m ...

took over in December, with Baker again restricted to occasional appearances, often as a substitute. In 1986–87, Baker managed a total of 26 league appearances, generally at

inside-left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, but was dropped following the signing of Gordon Hobson in November. In his final season at The Dell, Baker was only selected twice with his final appearance for "The Saints" coming in a South Coast Derby match against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

on 3 January 1988, when he had an "agonising afternoon", being beaten by Vince Hilaire who set up Barry Horne for the first goal, and then allowing

Micky Quinn Michael Quinn (born 2 May 1962) is an English former professional footballer and sports radio presenter for TalkSPORT. As a player he was a centre forward from 1979 until 1996. He most notably played in the Premier League for Coventry City, a ...

to get a cross in for

Terry Connor Terence Fitzroy Connor (born 9 November 1962) is an English former professional football player turned coach who is assistant manager at Blackpool. He was born in Leeds and was a pupil at Foxwood School, Seacroft, Leeds. As a player, Connor ...

to score Portsmouth's second. In his eight years as a professional at Southampton, Baker managed 102 appearances in all competitions.

Later career

In March 1988, he was transferred to

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

of the Fourth Division for a fee of £50,000. Baker scored on his debut against Swansea City in March 1988 and made 135 league and cup appearances in three full seasons at the

Brisbane Road Brisbane Road, originally known as Osborne Road, is a football stadium in Brisbane Road, Leyton, East London, England. It has been the home ground of Leyton Orient since 1937, before which it was the home of amateur football team Leyton F.C., w ...

club, featuring in every league game in the 1988–89 season including the playoff games, and helping them gain promotion to the Third Division in 1989. After a brief spell at

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

in late 1991, he joined

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

in December before leaving in February, shortly before the club went out of business and were obliged to resign from the Football League. He then joined

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 over five years before periods with Hayes,

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...

, and

Basingstoke Town Basingstoke Town Football Club is a football club based in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Winklebury Sports Complex. Their motto, 'Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum', means 'Never a step backward' ...

. He is one of only three players to play for both the original Aldershot F.C. and the reincarnated Aldershot Town, along with Steve Beeks and

Colin Fielder Colin Michael Raynor Fielder (born 5 January 1964) is an English former footballer who played for Aldershot Town, Farnborough Town, Slough Town, Woking and Yeovil Town. During his career he played as a midfielder A midfielder is an o ...

Career after football

Baker briefly worked for

as a coach in their

Academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

and was later working as a statistician for the

Professional Footballers' Association The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional association footballers in England and Wales. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sport trade union, and has over 5,000 members. The aims of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Steve 1961 births Sportspeople from Wallsend Footballers from Tyne and Wear Living people English footballers Association football defenders Wallsend Boys Club players Southampton F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Aldershot F.C. players Farnborough F.C. players Hayes F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Basingstoke Town F.C. players English Football League players