Chris Baird

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This article is about the Northern Irish footballer. For the former radio presenter, see BBC Radio Derby.
Chris Baird

Baird playing for Northern Ireland in 2012
Personal information
Full nameChristopher Patrick Baird
Date of birth (1982-02-25) 25 February 1982
Place of birthRasharkin, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Playing positionDefender
Club information
Current clubReading
Number6
Youth career
Ballymena United
1998–2001Southampton
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2001–2007Southampton68(3)
2003→ Walsall (loan)10(0)
2004→ Watford (loan)8(0)
2007–2013Fulham127(4)
2013–Reading9(0)
National team‡
Northern Ireland U184(0)
2002–2003Northern Ireland U216(1)
2003–Northern Ireland61(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:48, 24 November 2013 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:33, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

Christopher Patrick "Chris" Baird (born 25 February 1982) is a Northern Irish footballer who plays for Championship side Reading and the Northern Ireland national football team. He has previously played for Southampton and Fulham.

Club career

Southampton

Baird started his career at Northern Irish club, Ballymena United, before moving to Southampton in 1998.[2]

Baird made his debut for Southampton on 22 March 2003 as a late substitute for David Prutton in a 2–2 draw at home with Aston Villa. His second appearance came in a 6–1 defeat at Arsenal, when he came on after 26 minutes, with Arsenal already 5–0 up.[3]

Baird's first start came on the final day of the 2002–03 League season, in a 1–0 win at Manchester City. A week later, he started for Southampton in the 2003 FA Cup Final, also against Arsenal. Southampton lost the match 1–0, but Baird was voted as the Saints man of the match.[4]

He subsequently made two successful loan spells away from Southampton – two months at Walsall, where he played regularly in the first-team, and a month at Watford.[3]

In the 2003–04 season, Baird made only four league appearances for Southampton, and none at all in the following season. Following Southampton's relegation from the Premiership, Baird re-established himself in the Southampton squad and was singled out for praise by Southampton manager George Burley.[5] He started 16 league games in the 2005–06 season.[3]

In the first game of the 2006–07 season, away to Derby County on 6 August 2006, he was drafted into the centre half position when Claus Lundekvam went off injured in the sixth minute. On 25 November 2006, in his 50th first-team game for Southampton, he scored his first professional goal in a 2–1 victory over Luton Town.[6]

He spent most of the 2006–07 season in central defence, and at the end of the season he was the winner of the Saints Player of the Season award.[7][8]

Fulham

Baird left Southampton on 12 July 2007 to move to Premier League club Fulham for £3.025m.[9] Having initially worn the number 34 shirt, he changed to the number 6 for the 2009–10 season. Although typically a centre-back, and often surplus to requirements behind the rarely injured pairing of Aaron Hughes and Brede Hangeland, manager Roy Hodgson brought out a versatility in Baird which made him indispensable for long periods at Fulham, where first he filled in very successfully at right-back when John Paintsil was injured, and then due to the injuries to Dickson Etuhu and Danny Murphy he was often used in a central midfield role during the 2009–10 season, returning to right-back when they regained fitness. His success at right-back also earned him a start in the 2010 UEFA Europa League Final against Atlético Madrid ahead of the fit-again Paintsil.

On 14 September 2010 Baird signed a new contract with Fulham, keeping him at Craven Cottage until at least the summer of 2013,[10] and on 28 December 2010 he scored his first and second goals for Fulham against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium in a 2–0 victory. Both were long-range strikes, earning him the nickname "Bairdinho" amongst Fulham fans.

Baird was charged with abusive and insulting gestures towards a match official during a match against Liverpool on 9 May 2011, after he played the full 90 minutes and picked up a yellow card by referee Lee Mason in the 5–2 defeat at Craven Cottage. He then subsequently missed the last two games of the season against Birmingham City and Arsenal and was replaced by Philippe Senderos.

The 2011–12 season was a less successful one for Baird. With the arrival of Martin Jol as manager he found it difficult to get games, having to rely mostly on injuries to in-form right-back Stephen Kelly, but his proven versatility meant that he was almost always on the bench, and was the go-to substitute for central midfield, right-back and sometimes centre-back as well.

With Kelly falling out of favour in the early part of the 2012–13 season, and injuries to players like Mahamadou Diarra, plus the departures of Danny Murphy, Mousa Dembélé and Dickson Etuhu, Baird has become a regular in central midfield again, alongside Steve Sidwell, and with just those two goals at Stoke to his name for Fulham in 113 games prior to 20 October 2012, he scored in consecutive weeks at the end of October, the first being the winner in the 1–0 defeat of Aston Villa and then scoring a header in a 3–3 draw with Reading on 27 October 2012.

Baird was one of twelve players released by Fulham at the end of the 2012–13 Premier League season.[11] After leaving Fulham, he attracted the interest of Queens Park Rangers, Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers.[12]

Reading

Despite training with QPR for two weeks and receiving a contract offer, Baird signed for Reading on 20 September 2013 on a deal until January 2014.[13][14] He made his debut the next day in a 3–1 win over Derby at Pride Park.[15]

International career

In June 2003, Baird made his Northern Ireland début against Italy in a 2–0 defeat. Since then, he has been a regular member of the national side, despite playing little domestically between 2003 and 2005.[3]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 23 November 2013.[3]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Southampton 2002–03 Premier League 301000— 40
2003–04 40000000 40
2004–05 000000— 00
2005–06 Championship 1702010— 200
2006–07 44320302[lower-alpha 1]0 513
Total 683504020 793
Walsall (loan) 2003–04 First Division 1800000— 180
Fulham 2007–08 Premier League 1802010— 210
2008–09 1000010— 110
2009–10 320301016[lower-alpha 2]0 520
2010–11 2922000— 312
2011–12 19010106[lower-alpha 2]0 270
2012–13 1922010— 222
Total 127410050220 1644
Reading 2013–14 Championship 90000000 90
Career total 222715090240 2707
  1. ↑ Appearances in the Championship play-offs
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Appearances in the Europa League

Honours

Southampton
Fulham

Personal life

His mother's home in Rasharkin was attacked in September 2010.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "Chris Baird profile". Fulham F.C. Archived from the original on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013. 
  2. ↑ "Baird signs new Fulham contract". BBC News. 14 September 2010. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Chris Baird career statistics". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 September 2013. 
  4. ↑ "FA Cup final player ratings". news.bbc.co.uk. 17 May 2003. Retrieved 10 November 2006. 
  5. ↑ 's_been_our_best_player_this_term/ "Baird: He’s been our best player this term". Daily Echo. 27 November 2006. Retrieved 13 December 2013. 
  6. ↑ "Baird off the mark". saintsfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 13 December 2013. 
  7. ↑ Leitch, Adam (2 June 2007). "Hands off Baird warns Burley". Daily Echo. Retrieved 13 December 2013. 
  8. ↑ Mole, Giles (12 July 2007). "Chris Baird completes Fulham move". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 December 2013. 
  9. ↑ "Fulham complete capture of Baird". BBC Sport. 12 July 2007. Retrieved 12 July 2007. 
  10. ↑ "Baird Signs New Deal". Fulham FC. Retrieved 13 December 2013. 
  11. ↑ "Summer transfer window: Ins and Outs". Premier League. Retrieved 7 June 2013. 
  12. ↑ Jones, Simon (18 August 2013). "Bolton look to beat Championship rivals QPR and Blackpool to former Fulham defender Baird". Daily Mail. Retrieved 18 August 2013. 
  13. ↑ McIntyre, David (20 September 2013). "Baird snubs QPR and agrees Reading move". West London Sport. Retrieved 23 September 2013. 
  14. ↑ "Baird joins the Royals". Reading F.C. Retrieved 23 September 2013. 
  15. ↑ "Derby County 1–3 Reading". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 September 2013. 
  16. ↑ "Home of Chris Baird's mum is attacked in Rasharkin". BBC News. 20 September 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2012. 

External links

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Reading F.C. – current squad
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