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Born in Southampton on December 3rd 1958, Graham Baker was a
tough-tackling, industrious midfield player who was signed from his
hometown club for £350, 000 by Manchester City manager John Bond in the
1982 close season, having already won two England under-21 caps. He made
his debut on the opening day of the 1982/83 season in a 2-1 away win at
Norwich, and two weeks later opened his goalscoring account when he got
both goals in a 2-1 victory at Spurs. Five wins in the first eight
games saw City up among the early-season pace setters, with Baker
notching another goal in a 3-2 win over Coventry, but by the time he
returned from a two month injury absence at the end of February they
were struggling badly in the league and had been knocked out of both
cups, a 4-0 FA Cup defeat at Brighton in January prompting the
resignation of manager Bond. Only three more league wins meant City went
into the last game of the season needing a point to stay up, but were
beaten 1-0 by Luton Town at Maine Road and were relegated, Graham having
made 27 league appearances and scored 4 goals.
For the 1983/84
season a new manager, Billy McNeill, was brought in from Celtic. By the
middle of October City sat second in the division two table after a run
of five straight wins, with Baker netting in the defeats of Blackburn
Rovers (6-0) and Leeds (2-1), but despite him notching another two in a
4-0 win over Brighton in November some inconsistent form saw City in and
out of the promotion places by the turn of the year. A 2-1 third round
FA Cup at the hands of Blackpool was then followed by a dreadful run-in
to the end of the season, an eventual fourth place finish ten points
adrift of the promotion places, but on a personal level Baker's 8 goals
in 36 league games was a decent return.
The following campaign
would prove to be a bitter-sweet one for Graham. The first half of the
season had been a struggle, just above half-way in the table by early
January and defeats in the third round of both the League Cup and the FA
Cup to Chelsea and Coventry. However, five wins out of six games,
culminating in a 1-0 win at Blackburn on March 2nd, sent City to the top
of the table, but unfortunately Baker was carried from the pitch with a
dislocated shoulder. He returned to the side a month later in a 0-0
Easter draw at Barnsley, but just two days later he tragically broke his
leg in a 2-1 home defeat to Leeds, which put paid to his season. In the
end The Blues went on to secure promotion with a 5-1 win over Charlton
on the final day of the season, Graham's contribution of 4 goals in his
29 appearances being an important part of the team's achievement.
Over
the next two years Baker's comeback was disrupted by a series of
niggling injuries, which resulted in him making only 13 league and cup
appearances in the 1985/86 season, including one as a substitute in a
5-4 defeat to Chelsea in the Full Members Cup final at Wembley. The
following season got off to a promising start when Graham scored two
goals on the opening day in a 3-1 home win over Wimbledon (the photo above is during the game),
but injuries once again ensured he made only sporadic first team
outings, and at the end of a season in which City were once again
relegated he returned on a free transfer to his former club Southampton.
During his five seasons at Maine Road Baker had made a total of 138
league and cup appearances (6 as substitute), scoring 21 goals, and but
for terrible luck with injury would surely have made a bigger impact in
his time with the Blues.
After a further three seasons with
Southampton he had spells with Aldershot and Fulham and then went on to
take up coaching and managerial roles in non-league football. He later
worked as Youth Development Officer at Woking under his former
Southampton teammate Glenn Cockerill before eventually leaving football
to become a driving instructor. (David Redshaw)
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