Joe Baker was before my time. Well before my time. But I was inspired to do some research about him by a brief exchange on Twitter so here we go. First up, what did I know without delving into the records? Well, he played in Italy, he scored heaps of goals for us, formed a partnership with Geoff Strong, was part of a side that wasn't much cop and played for us at a time when our second kit was white!
The 22 year old Baker signed for the Arsenal ahead of the 1962/63 season. It was to be a new era at the club with ex England skipper Billy Wright appointed as manager and Les Shannon as his assistant. It was also the season Denis Hill Wood took over as chairman after Sir Bracewell Smith had stepped down and Terry Neill was appointed club captain.
The signing of Baker added to this sense of a new era beginning at a club which had been dormant for too long. The English international was playing in Italy with Torino but jumped at the chance to sign for the Arsenal and soon struck up a lethal partnership with Geoff Strong. Considering the record transfer fee handed over the Arsenal programme devoted little space to his arrival, focusing on Hill Wood's elevation to chairman and Wright's appointment, relegating Baker to the final paragraph on page three with a photo on page four. And as for the official club photograph our highly priced recruit was sat on the grass in front of his strike partner Strong.
His debut came away to Leyton Orient, a game I always associate with David Stacey for some reason, in their first season in the top flight and of course Baker scored to ensure a 2-1 win impudently nutmegging a defender and driving home from the edge of the box. Next up was Birmingham City at Highbury and again Baker netted, this time on his home debut, as we beat the Blues 2-0. In fact the programme for the Manchester United game hinted at the need for goal line technology as it writes 'In fact few people in the crowd were certain who had scored because it was one of those occasions where the ball was bobbling about on the goal line and it was not possible to discern from the stands the precise moment at which the ball crossed the line.'
There then followed a run of five losses in six games though Baker continued to find the net, scoring twice in that poor run. After 12 games Arsenal were 15th with three wins and just nine points on the board, this in the time of two points for a win. Then came two phenomenal games when a Baker hat trick inspired us to beat third place Wolves 5-2 and a week later we drew 5-5 with Blackburn away with two more from Baker.
Our new signing ended his campaign with 29 goals in his 39 league games. Not a bad return while his partner Strong his 18. This set the pattern for his career at the club. The following season he hit 26 in 39 as we finished eighth 25 in 42 in 1964/65. His final season was 1965/66. We finished 14th and Baker missed most of the second half of the season, scoring his last goal for the club in a 5-2 win at home to Sheffield Wednesday. He had signed for Nottingham Forest in the February.
With the likes of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Ian Wright it's almost like we take striker hitting 100 goals plus for granted. Baker netted 100 in 156 games, a remarkable achievement in what was arguably a poor side. But as he headed up the M6 to join Forest a new team was coalescing around an Arsenal core with Bob Wilson, Frank McLintock, George Armstrong John Radford, Peter Simpson and Peter Storey gradually getting more game time. And we know what happened to them!
There was one more highlight for Baker in that final season. The club went on a pre season tour to the Caribbean playing a number of games in Trinidad and Jamaica. Arsenal beat Jamaica Sugar estates XI 12-0 with Joe Baker netting six goals. Interestingly manager and assiatnt Wright and Shannon gave themselves run outs while proper Arsenal people Wilson, Armstrong, Don Howe and Terry Neill also played.
So what kind of player was Baker? Arsenal A Complete Record describes him as a little unpredictable while a feature on Arsenal's top marksmen that was featured in the Arsenal programmes in 1979/80 says his 'tremendous speed and cracking shot were a menace to defenders. He was described as 5 foot 8 inches tall but that didn't stop him kicking off with Liverpool's giant defender Ron Yeats one year. Then there was the time he replaced the injured Jack McClelland between the posts one year, conceding five goals in the process.
I guess with the emergence of John Radford the club felt there was no longer a need for Baker and hindsight suggests the decisions made proved correct. However at at time when the club was poor on the field his goals in the early to mid 1960s, a time when that lot up the road were in the ascendancy, gave the hard pressed Arsenal fans something to cheer about.
No comments:
Post a Comment