In a week in which the number of English players plying their trade overseas has been debated, the story of Joe Baker is one of a man who was well ahead of his time.
Baker was the first man to play for the Three Lions having hitherto never played a competitive game in England, and to this day only one man has matched that feat.
Born in Liverpool to Scottish parents on 17 July 1940, Baker’s life on the move began almost from birth.
The son of a sailor, he moved from Merseyside to the Scottish border town of Wishaw, Lanarkshire when he was six weeks old.
He remained in Scotland for the remainder of his childhood - and many would claim his international affinity would have been more closely suited to the tartan of Scotland than the Lions of England.
He spoke with a broad Scottish accent, and yet, could so easily have been among Alf Ramsey’s heroes, those whose names are forever etched in the annals of English football history.
But how did it come to be that in the late 1950s, a man with faint affinity to England, come so close to becoming a World Cup winner with England?
Joe Baker with Dennis Law in Turin in 1962
His accident of birth meant successive England managers, Walter Winterbottom and Alf Ramsey, each selected him the national squad over a seven-year period.
Baker’s club career could actually have begun in England. He spent a month on trial at Chelsea but was not offered a permanent contract.
After that Baker returned to Scotland and in 1957 joined Edinburgh side Hibernian, where he remained for four years.
It was a prolific period for the striker, who upon leaving for Torino in 1961 had notched up an impressive tally of 102 in 117 league games, and 159 goals in all competitions – and famously once scoring all four goals in a 4-3 Scottish Cup victory over city rivals Hearts.
It was this form that caught the attention of the then England manager Winterbottom.
Baker had also been courted by the Scotland national team, but due to his birthplace he was eligible to play for England and opted to do so. He made a scoring debut in the 2-1 victory over Northern Ireland in 1959 at the tender age of 19.
The Italian link
- John Charles (Leeds United to Juventus, 1957)
- Jimmy Greaves (Chelsea to AC Milan, 1961)
- Joe Baker (Hibernian to Torino, 1961)
- Denis Law (Manchester City to Torino, 1961)
- Gerry Hitchens (Aston Villa to Inter Milan, 1961)
He kept his place among the England squad for the remainder of that season, before a long hiatus from the international scene meant he was not selected again for five years.
After a stint in Italy with Torino, by the time he was recalled to the England ranks he was indeed wearing the colours of an English club, those of Arsenal.
Upon his return he produced a number of impressive displays, but famously failed to make the cut for Alf Ramsey’s 1966 World Cup squad despite scoring in back-to-back internationals against Northern Ireland and Spain in 1965.
It was during that first period that Baker decided to move on from Hibs and experience football in another league – but it would not be in England.
Instead, the diminutive forward opted for a move to Italy and Serie A, where he joined fellow Brit, and some may say ‘fellow Scot’, Denis Law at Torino.
It is fair to say the time spent in Italy was on mixed prosperity for Baker and he struggled to make an impact.
There were off-the-field incidents with paparazzi – including one infamous incident where he knocked one unfortunate member of the press into a Venetian canal.
His tumultuous time in Turin came to an end in 1962, shortly after being involved in a serious car crash that left him fighting for his life and in hospital for a month.
In later years he represented Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, Hibernian again and Raith Rovers – as well as two brief stints in charge of Albion Rovers.
Baker passed away in 2003 at the age of 63 - and he is joined only by Owen Hargreaves on what has become something of an exclusive list.
