Dessie Baker
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| Dessie Baker | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Dessie Baker | |
| Date of birth | August 25, 1977 | |
| Place of birth | Dublin, Republic of Ireland | |
| Playing position | Midfielder | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Shamrock Rovers | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1996-2003 2003 2004-2007 2008- |
Shelbourne F.C. UCD AFC Longford Town Shamrock Rovers |
? (?) 1 (0) ? (?) |
| National team | ||
| 1997 1998 |
Republic of Ireland B Republic of Ireland U21 |
1 (0) 1 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Desmond 'Dessie' Baker (born August 25th 1977 in Dublin) is an Irish footballer who currently plays for Shamrock Rovers [1].
A graduate of Dublin youth clubs Marks Celtic and Stella Maris F.C., Baker spent his late teens as a trainee at Manchester United. Baker enjoyed a fruitful career at underage level, winning the F.A. Youth Cup and Youth League with Manchester United and numerous schoolboy international caps for Republic of Ireland. Although he was named the FAI Youth Player of the Year in 1995 he failed to earn a professional contract at Old Trafford, however, and after a brief detour to Oldham returned to Ireland in the summer of 1996, having been offered a contract by League of Ireland club Shelbourne F.C.
He made his League of Ireland debut at UCD on the 15th of December and would remain a fixture in the Shels line-up for the remainder of the decade, but rose to wider prominence as a member of Brian Kerr's Republic of Ireland squad which placed third at the 1997 FIFA Under-20 World Cup. Baker famously headed the opening goal of Ireland's 2-1 victory over Ghana in the third/fourth place play-off after less than a minute of play had elapsed.
He also played at the FIFA World Youth Championship finals in Nigeria in 1999. He had already represented his country at U16 and U18 levels.
Baker (who scored another memorable goal against Kilmarnock F.C. in the 1997-98 Cup Winners' Cup, although Shels eventually lost the tie) was an integral member of the Shelbourne team which won the League of Ireland championship under Dermot Keely in 1999/2000, frequently operating on the left-hand side of a forward trident which also featured his brother Richie on the opposite flank.
Another league title followed in 2001/2002, but this time Shels were crowned champions under contentious and unsatisfactory circumstances, while Baker himself hardly muddied his boots all season. Keely, bemoaning the pressures of full-time football management, vacated his position, and his successor Pat Fenlon consigned Baker almost permanently to the substitutes' bench.
Baker served out the remainder of his contract during two frustrating and largely inactive seasons under Fenlon (incorporating a brief loan spell at UCD), before signing a two-year contract with Longford Town in January 2004. Longford manager Alan Matthews (formerly attached to the coaching staff at Shels) declared that "[Baker is] a good asset to us and he has something to prove to people after his last two seasons which have seen him play very little football." Baker himself was of the opinion that "the squad of players he [Matthews] has should see us challenging for more silverware next season."[1] This view was instantly vindicated as Longford won their maiden FAI Cup in 2003, a feat they remarkably reprised in 2004, when the additional conquest of the League Cup reinforced the club's status as connoiseurs of knockout football.
Despite participation in the UEFA Cup and newly-instituted Setanta Sports Cup, Longford's form deteriorated markedly resulting in relegation at the end of the 2007 season despite reaching the FAI Cup Final.
Dessie signed for Rovers in December 2007[2]
He made his league debut on the 8th of March 2008 [3] and scored his first goal on the 21st [4].
[edit] Honours
- League of Ireland Championship: 2
- Shelbourne 1999/2000, 2001/2002
- FAI Cup: 3
- Shelbourne 1997, 2000
- Longford Town 2004
- FAI League Cup: 1
- Longford Town - 2004
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