| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Edward Francis Baily | ||
| Date of birth | 6 August 1925 | ||
| Place of birth | Clapton, England | ||
| Date of death | 13 October 2010 (aged 85) | ||
| Place of death | Welwyn Garden City, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Inside forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1946–1956 | Tottenham Hotspur | 296 | (64) |
| 1956 | Port Vale | 26 | (8) |
| 1956–1958 | Nottingham Forest | 68 | (14) |
| 1958–1960 | Leyton Orient | 29 | (3) |
| Total | 419 | (89) | |
| National team | |||
| 1950–1952 | England | 9 | (5) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Edward (Eddie) Francis Baily (6 August 1925 – 13 October 2010) was a former England international footballer. He was a member of the 1950 FIFA World Cup squad. At club level, he played for Tottenham Hotspur from 1946–56, helping the club to both First and Second Division winning seasons. He also played for Port Vale, Nottingham Forest and Leyton Orient. On retiring from playing he became an assistant manager at Tottenham.
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He was described in The Guardian as "the quintessential cheeky Cockney, a dazzling technician, a razor-sharp passer of the ball, excitingly quick in thought and movement, one of the best inside-forwards of his era".[1]
Baily initially joined Tottenham as an amateur in 1942 at the age of 17 but his playing career was interrupted by the Second World War (he saw service in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany with the Royal Scots Fusiliers).[2] He returned to Tottenham in 1947 playing his first game, still as an amateur, on 19 January that year against West Bromwich Albion. His footballing skills flourished under new manager Arthur Rowe who was developing his push and run side which at the time was challenging for promotion to the Football League First Division.[3][4] In 1949–50, Spurs won the Second Division title, winning the First Division title the following season, also finishing runners-up in 1951–52.
During his playing career at Spurs he made 296 appearances scoring 64 goals. In January 1956 he was transferred to Port Vale for a then-club record fee of £7,000. He scored during a 'grand' debut in a 3-1 home win over Notts County on 14 January 1956. He scored eight goals in 27 games for the club, adding 'master touches' but was sold on to Nottingham Forest in October 1956 for £7,000 because he was 'an individualist' who left the rest of the Vale attackers 'confused'.[5] With Forest he played 68 games and scored 14 goals, helping them to promotion to the First Division in his first seasoon, then had a spell from 1958 at Leyton Orient (29 games and 3 goals).[6]
On 2 July 1950 Eddie won his first cap for England against Spain in the World Cup finals in Brazil. He went on to play in nine International games between 1950 and 1952, scoring five goals.[7]
In 1963 he returned to Tottenham to became the assistant manager under Bill Nicholson and remained with him during the following ten years until he relinquished the manager’s role.
He was also a P.E. teacher at Bishop Stopford's School at Enfield before joining West Ham United as chief scout. He was responsible for bringing, amongst others, future West Ham and England player, Alan Devonshire to Upton Park.[4]
He had a testimonial match in 1993 between Spurs and Enfield on the day that Terry Venables was sacked as manager of Spurs and a large crowd turned up in order to protest against the sacking.
Eddie Baily died on 13 October 2010 at Welwyn Garden City after a short illness.[8] He was survived by wife, Elsie, son, Graham, and daughter, Jane.[1]
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