Chris Baird

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

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 79 Full Caps (2003-2016), 6 Under-21 Caps / 1 Goal (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-- Signed --Fee-- --League-- FA Cup FL Cup Europe -Other-
Ballymena United ........... ....Youth ..0 (0)/0
Southampton.02/03-06/07 ...........£5k .62 (6)/3 .5(0)/0 4(0)/0 ....... 2(0)/0
Walsall.....03/04 ..... Sep-03....Loan .10 (0)/0
Watford.....03/04 ..... Mar-04....Loan ..8 (0)/0
Fulham......07/08-12/13 Jul-07 £3.025m 101(26)/4 10(1)/0 5(0)/0 19(3)/0
Reading ... 13/14 ..... Sep-13 .. Free ..9 (0)/0
Burnley ... 13/14 ..... Mar-14 .. Free . 5 (2)/0
West Brom . 14/15 ..... Jul-14 .. Free .9 (9)/0 .1(2)/0 2(0)/0
Derby Co. . 15/16-17/18 Jun-15 ...Free
Fulham .... 15/16 ..... Feb-16 .. Loan ..3 (4)/0
Totals........................ £3.030m .

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 2010 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.

Baird's name was linked with a move away from Fulham over a lengthy period, with possible destinations mentioned including West Brom and Southampton. He did not feature for club or country through the latter months of the 2012/13 season as he dealt with personal issues. When his contract expired in the summer of 2013 he was not offered a new deal.

After a lengthy spell training with QPR, during which he featured for Northern Ireland against Portugal while unattached, Baird signed for Reading in mid-September on a short-term deal. Due to injury, Reading declined to retain him beyond the following January. He eventually joined promotion chasing Burnley in March on a deal that ran to the end of the season and he helped them secure second place.

After rejecting a longer term deal with Burnley, Baird joined the Northern Ireland contingent at West Brom were he provided cover in a number of positions through the 2014/15 season. For 2015/16 he joined Derby County and was immediately appointed captain. It proved a difficult campaign for a club that had been hoping to clinch automatic promotion from the Championship and by mid-season Baird had been dropped. He briefly returned to Fulham on loan the closing weeks of the season as they battled to avoid relegation to League One.

Despite the upheaval in his club career, Baird remained a vital part of Michael O'Neill's squad. He played in all but one of the games of the successful Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, the only blight coming with a foolish sending-off for two quick-fire yellow cards in the key match against Hungary. Baird went into the tournament still first-choice, but after the team put in an underwhelming performance in the opening match against Poland, Baird was one of several players to be dropped. Ultimately that proved to be his final Northern Ireland outing as he retired from international football before the start of the 2018 World Cup qualifying series.

With 79 caps, at the time of his retirement Chris Baird was Northern Ireland's ninth most capped player. His international career had spanned the lows and highs of a tumultuous twelve year period, and he filled in with quiet efficiency in whichever position was required. His role in helping Northern Ireland to qualify for a first major tournament in thirty years should never be forgotten.

Official Fulham Website
Official Irish FA Website

Northern Ireland Cap Details:

71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79

03/06/2003

11/06/2003

06/09/2003

10/09/2003

11/10/2003

18/02/2004

31/03/2004

28/04/2004

30/05/2004

02/06/2004

06/06/2004

09/10/2004

09/02/2005

26/03/2005

30/03/2005

04/06/2005

03/09/2005

07/09/2005

12/10/2005

01/03/2006

16/08/2006

02/09/2006

06/09/2006

07/10/2006

11/10/2006

22/08/2007

08/09/2007

12/09/2007

17/11/2007

21/11/2007

06/02/2008

26/03/2008

20/08/2008

06/09/2008

10/09/2008

11/10/2008

15/10/2008

19/11/2008

28/03/2009

01/04/2009

12/08/2009

09/09/2009

14/10/2009

14/11/2009

11/08/2010

03/09/2010

08/10/2010

12/10/2010

09/02/2011

25/03/2011

29/03/2011

10/08/2011

02/09/2011

06/09/2011

07/10/2011

11/10/2011

15/08/2012

07/09/2012

11/09/2012

16/10/2012

14/11/2012

06/09/2013

15/10/2013

15/11/2013

30/05/2014

07/09/2014

11/10/2014

14/10/2014

14/11/2014

25/03/2015

29/03/2015
13/06/2015
04/09/2015
07/09/2015
11/10/2015
13/11/2015
27/05/2016
04/06/2016
12/06/2016

Italy

Spain

Ukraine

Armenia

Greece

Norway

Estonia

Serbia.&.Mont.

Barbados

St Kitts-Nevis

Trinidad.&.Tob.

Azerbaijan

Canada

England

Poland

Germany

Azerbaijan

England

Austria

Estonia

Finland

Iceland

Spain

Denmark

Latvia

Liechtenstein

Latvia

Iceland

Denmark

Spain

Bulgaria

Georgia

Scotland

Slovakia

Czech Rep.

Slovenia

San Marino

Hungary

Poland

Slovenia

Israel

Slovakia

Czech Republic

Serbia

Montenegro

Slovenia

Italy

Faroe Islands

Scotland

Serbia

Slovenia

Faroe Islands

Serbia

Estonia

Italy

Finland

Russia

Luxembourg

Portugal

Azerbaijan

Portugal

Israel

Turkey

Uruguay

Hungary

Faroe Islands

Greece

Romania

Scotland

Finland
Romania
Faroe Islands
Hungary
Finland
Latvia
Belarus
Slovakia
Poland

H
H
A
H
A
H
H
A
N

W
W
W
D
D
W
W
D
L

0-2

0-0

0-1

1-4

1-0

1-1

2-0

3-0

0-0

0-1

0-4

0-1

1-4

2-0

1-0

0-2

1-0

2-1

0-3

3-2

0-0

1-0

3-1

0-1

1-2

2-1

0-1

4-1

0-0

1-2

0-0

0-2

4-0

0-2

3-2

1-0

1-1

0-2

0-0

0-1

0-2

1-0

0-0

1-1

0-3

1-2

0-0

4-0

0-1

1-4

1-2

0-3

3-3

0-2

1-1

2-4

1-1

0-1

2-1

2-0

0-2

0-1

2-0
2-1
3-1
0-0
1-1
1-0
3-0
0-0
0-1

ECQ

WCQ

ECQ

WCQ

ECQ

ECQ
CNC

ECQ

WCQ

ECQ

FR
ECQ ECQ

ECQ
ECQ
ECQ
FR FR
FR
ECF

sub

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
sub

sent-off
-
-
-
-
-

Northern Ireland Under-21 Cap Details:

12/02/2002

06/09/2002

11/10/2002

15/10/2002

11/02/2003

01/04/2003

Germany

Scotland

Spain

Ukraine

Finland

Greece

0-1

1-1

0-1

1-1

3-1

2-6

ECQ

1.goal

Pictures courtesy of OJM, @ourweecountry and Chopper1 from OWC.

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