Kieron Baker
Personal information
Full name Kieron Richard Baker[1]
Date of birth (1949-10-29) 29 October 1949
Place of birth Ryde, England
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1965–1967 Fulham
1967 Ryde County Old Boys
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1967–1978 AFC Bournemouth 217 (0)
1971 → Montreal Olympique (loan) 18 (0)
1973 → Brentford (loan) 6 (0)
1978–1979 Ipswich Town 0 (0)
→ Norwich City (loan) 0 (0)
1980 Phoenix Fire 0 (0)
1980–1981 Oxford City 38 (0)
1981–1983 Weymouth 75 (0)
1983 Yeovil Town 15 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Kieron Richard Baker (born 29 October 1949) is an English retired professional footballer who made over 210 appearances as a goalkeeper in the Football League for AFC Bournemouth. He also played in Canada.

Career

Early years

A goalkeeper, Baker began his career as an apprentice at First Division club Fulham in 1965.[2] He played for the Cottagers' youth and reserve teams, but left the club in 1967, to return to his native Isle of Wight for a short spell with Ryde County Old Boys.[2]

AFC Bournemouth

Baker returned to the mainland to sign for Third Division club Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in July 1967.[1] He had to wait until the 1969–70 season to make his debut and made 17 league appearances in a disastrous season which saw the Cherries relegated to Fourth Division.[3] A return to Third Division football in 1971 (under the name 'AFC Bournemouth') saw Baker make just 13 league appearances over the following three seasons, during which he spent periods away on loan at North American Soccer League club Montreal Olympique and Third Division club Brentford.[3][4][5][6]

Baker finally broke through into the first team during the 1973–74 season, when he made 33 league appearances. He was a regular in goal until the end of the 1977–78 season and missed just five league matches in each of his final two seasons at Dean Court. Baker departed Bournemouth in June 1978, having made 248 appearances in 11 years for the club.[2] He was awarded a testimonial for his service to the club, though the match didn't take place.[7]

Later professional career

In a surprise move, Baker signed for First Division club Ipswich Town for a £20,000 fee during the 1978 off-season.[2] He failed to make a first team appearance and instead made 18 Football Combination appearances for the reserves and had a non-playing loan spell at East Anglian rivals Norwich City.[2][8] An injury forced Baker to retire from football at the end of the 1978–79 season,[2] but he returned to football to sign for new American Soccer League club Phoenix Fire in early 1980, linking up with former Bournemouth teammate Harry Redknapp.[9] The club folded due to financial irregularities before the beginning of the 1980 season.[10]

Non-League football

Baker returned to England and linked up again with Harry Redknapp (now assistant to manager Bobby Moore) at Isthmian League First Division club Oxford City in 1980.[11] He made 38 appearances for the club.[11] Baker moved back to the south coast to sign for Alliance Premier League club Weymouth in June 1981.[2] He established himself in the first team and made 110 appearances before departing in 1983.[12] Baker followed Weymouth teammates Trevor Finnegan, Gary Borthwick and Billy Elliott to Alliance Premier League club Yeovil Town in 1983.[13] He made 21 appearances before retiring in November 1983.[14][15]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Montreal Olympique (loan) 1971[4] North American Soccer League 18 0 — — — 18 0
Brentford (loan) 1972–73[16] Third Division 6 0 — — — 6 0
Yeovil Town 1983–84[15] Alliance Premier League 15 0 2 0 — 4[lower-alpha 1] 0 21 0
Career total 39 0 2 0 0 0 4 0 45 0

References

  1. 1 2 "Kieron Baker". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Kieron Baker". Pride of Anglia – Ipswich Town Football Club. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  3. 1 2 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic F.C. at the Football Club History Database
  4. 1 2 "NASL-Kieron Baker". nasljerseys.com. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  5. ↑ Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 15. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  6. ↑ Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2011). The Big Brentford Book of the Seventies. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. p. 267. ISBN 978-1906796709.
  7. ↑ "Bourne Legacy: Kieron Baker". AFCB. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  8. ↑ "Games played by Kieron Baker in 1978–79". Pride of Anglia – Ipswich Town Football Club. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  9. ↑ Redknapp, Harry (2013). Always Managing: My Autobiography. Ebury Press. p. 116. ISBN 978-0091917876.
  10. ↑ "1980 Phoenix Fire, American Soccer League". Fun While It Lasted. 3 May 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  11. 1 2 "Players (Alphabetic)". docs.google.com. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  12. ↑ "Player Archive". The Terras. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  13. ↑ "Yeovil Town Story Part 39". ciderspace.co.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  14. ↑ "Keiron Baker". ytfc.digital. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  15. 1 2 "1983–84 Campaign". ytfc.digital. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  16. ↑ White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 392. ISBN 0951526200.
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