- Charles Baker (footballer)
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Charles Baker Personal information Full name Charles Baker Date of birth 10 February 1870 Place of birth Stafford, England Date of death 1940 Playing position Inside forward Youth career Stafford Rangers Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1889–1891 Stoke 13[1] (2) 1891–1893 Wolverhampton Wanderers 37 (6) 1893–1894 Stoke 4 (0) 1894–1896 Southampton 33 (11) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).Charles Baker (10 February 1870–1940) was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward in Southampton's inaugural season in the Southern League.
Contents
Playing career
Born in Stafford, he first played for Stafford Rangers before joining Stoke in April 1889. He made one appearance at the end of the 1888–89 season; the following season he appeared fairly regularly making twelve league appearances, scoring twice as Stoke finished at the foot of the Football League table and failed to be re-elected for the following season. As a consequence, Stoke played 1890–91 in the Football Alliance, finishing the season as champions.[2]
In August 1891, he moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers where he played alongside Will Devey and England international forwards Harry Wood and Robert Topham. In 1891–92 he was a virtual ever-present, making 24 appearances in the league scoring five goals, as well as four FA Cup appearances (four goals). The following season, he lost his place to Joe Butcher and returned to Stoke in January 1893.
Although he made four appearances for Stoke at the end of the 1892–93 season, he made no appearances at all in the first team in the following season, presumably as a result of injury.
On 26 April 1893, he was part of a Stoke side who were invited to play a friendly match against Southampton St Mary's, played at the County Cricket ground in Northlands Road, Southampton. The "Saints", who included the 18-year old Charles Miller (considered to be the father of football in Brazil[3]) in their line-up, were "outplayed fairly and squarely on every point", although the spectators "thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition" and looked forward to witnessing "more matches of a similar character" in future.[4] Also playing for Stoke were Alf Littlehales, Willie Naughton and Lachie Thomson, all of whom were to move to Southampton within two years.
In the summer of 1894, along with fellow Stoke players Lachie Thomson and Alf Littlehales, he was persuaded to move to the south coast, where Southampton were about to embark on their first season in the new Southern League. He was appointed the first team captain and "his surges down the right wing made him a favourite with the Southampton faithful".[5] He scored a hat trick in an FA Cup qualifying match at the Antelope Ground against Reading on 3 November 1894, as well as scoring in the next two matches as the Saints progressed to the first round proper where they lost 4–1 to Nottingham Forest. Baker went on to score a total of twelve (six league and six FA Cup) goals that season, making him the cub's top scorer.[6]
According to Holley & Chalk, he was "a neat dribbler, (who) had a firm command over the ball and could centre with precision"[5] In 1895–96 he was an ever-present as Southampton finished the season in third place. His Southampton career covered 42 first-team appearances, in which he scored 17 goals.
At the end of the season he announced his retirement from football; the club presented him with a gold watch, before Baker returned to Stafford to take up the trade of shoemaker.
Career statistics
Club Season League FA Cup Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Stoke 1888–89 1 0 0 0 1 0 1889–90 12 2 4 0 16 4 1890–91[A] 17 11 0 0 17 11 Total 30 13 4 0 34 13 Wolves 1891–92 24 5 4 4 28 9 1892–93 13 1 0 0 13 1 Total 37 6 4 4 43 9 Stoke 1892–93 4 0 0 0 4 0 Total 4 0 0 0 4 0 Southampton 1894–95 15 6 4 6 19 12 1895–96 18 5 5 0 23 5 Total 33 11 9 6 42 17 Career total 104 30 17 10 123 39 Footnotes
- A. ^ The "1890–91 season" constitutes appearances and goals in the Football Alliance.
References
- ^ Football League only
- ^ Matthews, Tony (1997). "Football Alliance". A-Z of Stoke City. The Breedon Books Publishing Company Limited. p. 86. ISBN 1 85983 100 1.
- ^ Hamilton, Aidan (1998). An Entirely Different Game, The British Influence on Brazilian Football. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1-84018-041-2.
- ^ Bull, David; Brunskell, Bob (2000). Match of the Millennium. Hagiology. pp. 12–13. ISBN 0-9534474-1-3.
- ^ a b Duncan Holley & Gary Chalk (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing. p. 19. ISBN 0-9514862-3-3.
- ^ Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan (1987). Saints – A complete record. Breedon Books. pp. 16–17. ISBN 0-907969-22-4.
Categories:- 1870 births
- People from Stafford
- 1940 deaths
- English footballers
- Pre-1914 association football players
- Stoke City F.C. players
- Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players
- Southampton F.C. players
- Southern Football League players
- The Football League players
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