Thomas William Baker (17 August 1905 – 30 March 1975), sometimes known as Billy Baker, was an English professional

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 lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

and

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

Career

, Baker began his career in his native

North East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

with Northern League clubs Usworth Colliery, Crook Town, Shotton Colliery Welfare and Chilton Colliery Recreation. He later earned a move to

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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

with

, for whom he made 65 appearances before departing in 1932. Baker signed for

Third Division South The Third Division South of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

club

in 1932 on a free transfer. Originally signed by manager Harry Curtis as cover for Dave Smith, Baker quickly became Curtis' first-choice goalkeeper and held the position until January 1934, when Jack Clough took over. He made 43 appearances during the Bees' 1932–33 Third Division South title-winning season. Baker left Brentford at the end of the 1933–34 season and made 65 appearances in his two years at

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a association football, football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground was in a predominantly resi ...

. Baker remained in the Third Division South to sign for

and made 13 league appearances during the 1934–35 season. His final league club was

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

club

and he ended his career with

North Eastern League The North Eastern League was an association football league for teams in the North East of England. The league was founded in 1906 and was initially successful, with teams defecting from the rival Northern Football Alliance to play. Although ...

club Horden Colliery Welfare.

Personal life

During his amateur football career, Baker worked as a

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...

Career statistics

Honours

Brentford *

Football League Third Division South The Third Division South of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

: 1932–33

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Tommy 1905 births 1975 deaths Footballers from Seaham English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Usworth Colliery A.F.C. players Crook Town A.F.C. players Shotton Colliery Welfare F.C. players Chilton Colliery Recreation F.C. players Southport F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Darlington Town F.C. players Northern Football League players English Football League players English miners 20th-century English sportsmen