Chris Baird

Name: Christopher Patrick Baird
Born: 25 February 1982, Rasharkin
Height: 5.10 ft
Weight: 11.11 st
Position: Defender/Midfielder

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: Full Caps (2003-date), 6 Under-21 Caps (2002-2003), 4 Under-18 Caps.
Club Honours: (with Southampton) FA Cup Runner-Up 2002/03; (with Fulham) UEFA Europa League Runner-Up 2009/10.

Club Career:
Clubs........... --Seasons-- ---Fee---- -League- FA Cup FL Cup Other
Ballymena United ........... .....Youth ..0(0)/0
Southampton..... 02/03-06/07 .....Youth .62(6)/3 5(0)/0 4(0)/0 2(0)/0
Walsall......... 03/04...... ......Loan .10(0)/0
Watford......... 03/04...... ......Loan ..8(0)/0
Fulham.......... 07/08- date £3,025,000 .
Totals...................... £3,025,000 .

Biography:
Up to the closing weeks of the 2002/03 season Chris Baird had not even made the bench for a senior football match. That changed rapidly as he made his Southampton debut on 22nd March 2003 as a late substitute against Aston Villa at St Mary's, helping to set up a last minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw. He made his second senior appearance as a 26th minute substitute against Arsenal at Highbury on 7th May, at which point the Saints were already 5-0 down and on their way to a 6-1 defeat. Four days later Baird made his first Premiership start in a 1-0 win over Manchester City at Maine Road.

The following weekend Southampton took on Arsenal in the FA Cup final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Baird had total of 158 minutes of firstteam football behind him but was given the right-back role of marking French international winger Robert Pires as Gordon Strachan sought to employ a more defensive formation than that which the Gunners had overrun just ten days earlier. In a performance that belied his lack of experience, Baird distinguished himself, twice clearing the ball from his own goal-mouth and even raising a good save from David Seaman with a 20 yard strike. Sadly Arsenal claimed the Cup with a 1-0 win courtesy of a Pires strike, but Baird was widely regarded as Southampton's Man of the Match.

Already a Youth and six-time Under-21 international, the scramble to include Baird in the senior Northern Ireland set-up was palpable. He made his Full Northern Ireland debut in a friendly against Italy in Campbasso where an experimental line-up put in a decent display despite a 2-0 defeat. The following week an almost identical Northern Ireland line-up took on Spain in a European Championships qualifier at Windsor Park. The game, played right in the middle of the infamous goal-drought, was predicted to be an easy win for the star-studded Spaniards, but Baird was part of a resolute defensive display as a highly credible 0-0 draw was achieved.

After such an impressive start to his senior career great things were expected of Baird. Sadly he was consistently overlooked by Gordon Strachan and his successors, Paul Sturrock, Steve Wigley and Harry Redknapp, over the following two seasons and he played just four Premier League games prior to Southampton's relegation in 2005. He did spend successful spells on loan at Walsall and Watford and he also retained his place in the Northern Ireland side through the closing months of Sammy McIlroy's managerial tenure and into the renaissance under Lawrie Sanchez.

It was mid-way through the 2005/06 season before Baird finally established himself in the Southampton firstteam, earning the praise of new manager, George Burley. Burley also began to employ Baird regularly in the centre of defence and it was from this position that he was named as Southampton's Player of the Year for 2006/07. Highlights of the season included his first professional goal, a header in a 2-1 win over Luton on his fiftieth appearance and a thirty yard strike against Cardiff City as the Saints made the play-offs.

Baird's versatility was put to good use by Lawrie Sanchez as he employed him in a defensive midfield role in games against Spain and Denmark in September and October 2006 due to the unavailability of the injured Damien Johnson. Northern Ireland's results in these games - a 3-2 win in Belfast and 0-0 draw in Copenhagen respectively - saw an impressive turnaround in form following a disappointing 3-0 defeat by Iceland. Sanchez's faith in Baird was further illustrated after his appointment as Fulham manager when he paid Southampton over £3 million for his former international player.

New Northern Ireland boss Nigel Worthington used Baird at centre-half for the first time at international level against Liechtenstein in August 2007, also appointing him as stand-in captain for Aaron Hughes. Although Liechtenstein were dispatched 3-1, the following matches in which he led out the team proved highly disappointing. He scored the own goal that gave Latvia a 1-0 win and in the following match Northern Ireland suffered a heart-breaking 2-1 defeat at the hands of Iceland. Bookings in each of these matches also saw Baird punished with a one match suspension.

Although a regular at Fulham under Sanchez, Baird was initially a bit-part player under Roy Hodgson filling in only occasionally in midfield or defence. He had been on record describing defence as his favoured role but since early in the 2009/10 season Baird has been a regular as a defensive midfielder. For the Europa League final he was a surprise selection at right-back. In the Northern Ireland set-up too his regular right-back position came under pressure from Gareth McAuley though he still appears in midfield or central defence when required.

Official Fulham Website
Official Irish FA Website

Northern Ireland Cap Details:
03-06-2003 Italy.............. A L 0-2 FR
11-06-2003 Spain.............. H D 0-0 ECQ
06-09-2003 Ukraine............ A D 0-0 ECQ
10-09-2003 Armenia............ H L 0-1 ECQ
11-10-2003 Greece............. A L 0-1 ECQ
18-02-2004 Norway............. H L 1-4 FR
31-03-2004 Estonia............ A W 1-0 FR
28-04-2004 Serbia & Montenegro H D 1-1 FR
30-05-2004 Barbados........... A D 1-1 FR
02-06-2004 St Kitts & Nevis... A W 2-0 FR
06-06-2004 Trinidad & Tobago.. A W 3-0 FR
09-10-2004 Azerbaijan......... A D 0-0 WCQ
09-02-2005 Canada............. H L 0-1 FR
26-03-2005 England............ A L 0-4 WCQ
30-03-2005 Poland............. A L 0-1 WCQ
04-06-2005 Germany............ H L 1-4 FR
03-09-2005 Azerbaijan......... H W 2-0 WCQ
07-09-2005 England............ H W 1-0 WCQ
12-10-2005 Austria............ A L 0-2 WCQ
01-03-2006 Estonia............ H W 1-0 FR
16-08-2006 Finland............ A W 2-1 FR
02-09-2006 Iceland............ H L 0-3 ECQ
06-09-2006 Spain.............. H W 3-2 ECQ
07-10-2006 Denmark............ A D 0-0 ECQ
11-10-2006 Latvia............. H W 1-0 ECQ
22-08-2007 Liechtenstein...... H W 3-1 ECQ
08-09-2007 Latvia............. A L 0-1 ECQ
12-09-2007 Iceland............ A L 1-2 ECQ
17-11-2007 Denmark............ H W 2-1 ECQ sub
21-11-2007 Spain.............. A L 0-1 ECQ
06-02-2008 Bulgaria........... H L 0-1 FR sub
26-03-2008 Georgia............ H W 4-1 FR
20-08-2008 Scotland........... A D 0-0 FR
06-09-2008 Slovakia........... A L 1-2 WCQ
10-09-2008 Czech Republic..... H D 0-0 WCQ
11-10-2008 Slovenia........... A L 0-2 WCQ
15-10-2008 San Marino......... H W 4-0 WCQ
19-11-2008 Hungary............ H L 0-2 FR
28-03-2009 Poland............. H W 3-2 WCQ sub
01-04-2009 Slovenia........... H W 1-0 WCQ sub
12-08-2009 Israel............. H D 1-1 FR
09-09-2009 Slovakia........... H L 0-2 WCQ sub
14-10-2009 Czech Republic..... A D 0-0 WCQ
14-11-2009 Serbia............. H L 0-1 FR
still active

Picture courtesy of OJM and theGAWA from OWC.