Thomas George Baker (born 6 April 1936, in Maerdy) is a former

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

international

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 ...

. He was widely known as George Baker.

Club career

Originally a winger, Baker joined

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

as a teenager in the early 1950s. He made his

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

debut in October 1954, but appeared sporadically over the next three years, as he developed his game playing for the club's reserve team in the Plymouth & District, Devon Wednesday, and Football Combination Leagues."George Baker"
Greens on Screen. Retrieved 24 January 2010. He became a first team regular in 1958, and played an important part in the club's

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

title campaign a year later. After that success, Baker sustained a knee injury which eventually brought his career at Home Park to an end. He scored 17 goals in all competitions for the club and made 83 appearances. He joined Shrewsbury Town in 1961,. Retrieved 14 January 2011. who were under the management of Arthur Rowley. He played in the match where Rowley broke

Dixie Dean William Ralph "Dixie" Dean (22 January 1907 – 1 March 1980) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward. He is regarded as one of the greatest centre-forwards of all time and was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in ...

's record for most goals scored in the

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 ...

. After 5 goals in 52 appearances, Baker returned to South Wales in 1962 to play for

Barry Town Barry Town United Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl Droed Tref Y Barri) is a semi-professional association football team based in Barry, Wales. They are known for representing Wales in Europe as winners of the Cymru Premier and Welsh Cup during ...

, where he finished his career playing in the Southern League.

International career

He was a member of the Wales squad which participated in the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil be ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. Wales progressed to the quarter-finals of the competition, where they were knocked out by Brazil, but Baker was an unused substitute in all five matches. He played twice for his country at under-23 level, against England in 1958, and Scotland in 1959.

Personal life

After retiring from football Baker was an executive for an opencast mining company in south Wales. He settled in

Tylorstown Tylorstown (Pendyrus) is a village and community located in the Rhondda valley, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is neighboured by the villages of Blaenllechau, Ferndale, Penrhys, Pontygwaith and Stanleytown. History B ...

by 2008.

Honours

Plymouth Argyle *

: 1958–59

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, George 1936 births Living people People from Rhondda Welsh footballers Wales under-23 international footballers Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Barry Town United F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players 1958 FIFA World Cup players Association football wingers