He moved into professional football and the Football League with Luton Town in October 1946, but after two years without a first-team breakthrough he moved on to Watford, for whom he scored three goals in seven League games during 1948/49. He then joined King’s Lynn of the Eastern Counties League and scored the only goal when they eliminated Abbey from the FA Cup in October 1950.
Sid returned to Newmarket Road in December 1951, playing at centre forward in a 2-1 home defeat by Colchester United Reserves, but made only one more appearance, scoring the only goal in United’s ECL defeat of Gorleston on 9 February 1952. Plagued by injuries, he retired from football that year. He had met his future wife, Joan, while in King’s Lynn. They married in 1952 and had one daughter, Susan, and two grandchildren, Charlotte and Stephanie. Over the years Sid had a variety of jobs: working in an antiques shop; at Pye and Gestetner; and for the University, where he printed exam papers until he retired. He worked tirelessly for the Waterbeach community for over 25 years, with the annual village feast the biggest item on his agenda. He was part of the Beach News team when the village magazine was launched in the 1970s and helped with its production for many years. After full retirement he coached the Waterbeach School football team and also gave his time to the village club. We are indebted to Beach News – beachnews@waterbeach.org – for much of the above information and for the photograph.
Gerry proved just as popular in amber and black as he had been at King’s Lynn. The imposing, no-nonsense defender went on to make 259 full appearances and score 16 goals for the U’s, and teammate Tony Butcher was in no doubt of his importance to the team, especially in the Southern League and Cup Double year of 1968/69.
‘The fellow who really won United the Southern League was big centre back Gerry Baker,’ he wrote in his memoirs. ‘In the last ten games or so he was fantastic. He propped us up match after match and never put a foot wrong. We were struggling to win those matches, but the big fellow saw us through and I think they should have struck a special medal just for him!’ Born in South Hendley, West Yorkshire on 22 April 1939, Gerry began his football career on the Sheffield Wednesday ground staff, moving to Bradford Park Avenue in 1955 and turning professional two years later. He played in 16 Football League games before joining King’s Lynn in 1961, where he was made captain. He made the move from full back to centre half at the start of the 1964/65 season. Roy Kirk was the United manager who provoked such puzzlement in King’s Lynn. Gerry was immediately appointed captain at the Abbey and formed a formidable centre-half combination with Jackie Scurr as Kirk experimented with a 4-2-4 formation. In the 1966/67 season, now under Bill Leivers’ management, he played in a club record 73 matches in the Southern League, the Eastern Professional Floodlit League and various cups. Leivers felt his team should have won the league in 1967/68 (they finished third) but praised the progress of his players, especially ‘the transformation in the play of Gerry Baker’. The supporters agreed and made him their player of the year. New signing Terry Eades began to ease Gerry out of the side and in October 1969 he was sold to Cambridge City. He captained the Lilywhites to promotion to the Southern League Premier in 1970 and the runners-up position the following season, before moving to Stevenage. Thereafter he took up the managerial reins at Great Shelford – where he still lives – and was instrumental in the club’s Cambs Invitation Cup win in 1980/81 and its 70s-to-90s domination of the Cambs League. It's good to have you back, Gerry.
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Happy Harry's blogI'm the living embodiment of the spirit of the U's, and I'll be blogging whenever I've got news for you, as long as I don't miss my tea. Archives
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