Richard Peter Baker (born 29 December 1987) is an English footballer who plays for North West Counties Football League Premier side Nelson, where he plays as a midfielder.

Youth career Richie began his career in the highly successful Manchester United Academy, where he played as a right-back, and was understudy to Danny Simpson, which somewhat restricted Baker to much playing time, he also played alongside the likes of Gerard Piqué, Fraizer Campbell and Giuseppe Rossi, during his time at Old Trafford. Following the decision by Manchester United to release Baker, he joined Championship side Preston North End as a trainee, but failed to make a breakthrough into the first team and was released at the end of the 2005–06 season, due to the collapse of the reserve team.

Playing career Bury Baker dropped down to join League Two side Bury in the summer of 2006, following an initial trial period. He made his professional debut under Chris Casper as an 18-year old on 19 August 2006, coming off the bench in a defeat to Wycombe Wanderers. Baker was due to start that match, “on the Friday, Chris told me I was starting which surprised me as I had only just joined. But, two hours before the game, Chris had changed his mind and told me he was going to leave me out. I was gutted but, in hindsight, he was right as he protected me as Wycombe hammered us. I came on in the second half and had a blinder. That is one of the highlights of my career.” After making his full debut in the League Cup victory over Championship side Sunderland in August, he became an integral part of the first team during the 2006–07 season. In January 2007, he committed his future to Bury by signing a new contract which extended his stay at Gigg Lane until the summer of 2009. In his first professional season he made 44 appearances in all competitions, scoring 6 goals as Bury finished in 21st place.

In his second season at the club he still remained a regular starter in the side, even when Casper was replaced by Alan Knill in February 2008. Bury had a much improved campaign, finishing in mid-table and having a run to the FA Cup fourth round for the first time since 1986, eventually losing 2–0 at Championship side Southampton. Baker made 39 appearances and scored one goal in the 2007–08 campaign. He became more of a squad player in his third season at the club, but did get a regular run of games over the Christmas period replacing the injured Brian Barry-Murphy having impressed Knill in training and after coming on as a substitute in 3–0 win over Port Vale. Bury had a very good first full season under Knill, finishing in 4th and narrowly missing out on automatic promotion to League One on the final game of the season by goal difference to Wycombe Wanderers. They then lost to Shrewsbury Town in the play-offs over two legs, with Baker failing to make the matchday squad in any of the final three games. In June 2009, Baker committed to a new one-year deal at Bury. Baker had a disappointing final year at the club personally as he only managed to feature in 19 games, describing his time at Bury he stated, "it went from playing week in, week out to playing every two, and then towards the back end of last season it was getting to not even getting on the pitch". He scored 8 goals in 129 appearances in total for Bury before leaving the club in the summer of 2010 when his contract expired.

Oxford United On 1 July 2010, Baker joined newly-promoted League Two side Oxford United on a six-month deal to become the Chris Wilder's tenth summer signing. Wilder knew Baker from his time at Bury, where he had served nearly six-months as assistant to Alan Knill. Baker struggled to make an impact at the Kassam Stadium making eight appearances and only one start, which came in a defeat in the Football League Trophy to Aldershot Town. He was released from the club in January 2011 when his contract expired.

Barrow Baker then signed for Barrow on 15 February 2011, making his debut against Mansfield Town four days later. In May 2011, he was offered a new contract by Barrow. Baker became a major part of the Barrow team for the subsequent two seasons. However, he left when they were relegated in May 2013.

Tamworth Baker joined Tamworth on 24 May 2013.

Stockport County Baker signed for Conference North side Stockport County on 3 August 2014, following some impressive displays whilst on trial, in particular scoring a brace in a pre-season friendly against Conference National side Macclesfield Town

AFC Fylde Baker signed for Conference North side AFC Fylde on 13 March 2015. He made his debut the next day in a 2–2 draw at local rivals Chorley. On 11 May 2017, it was announced that Baker would leave Fylde upon the expiry of his current deal in June 2017.

F.C. United of Manchester In July 2017, he signed for F.C. United of Manchester. He left the club on 2 September by mutual consent.

Curzon Ashton On 23 September 2017, he signed for Curzon Ashton

Lancaster City On 30 June 2018, it was announced that Baker had dropped down a division to sign for Northern Premier League Premier Division side Lancaster City, managed by Phil Brown.

Colne On 11 December 2018, Baker was announced as signing for Colne. He re-joined the club on 23 June 2019.Colne F.C. on Twitter: "SIGNED! ✍️ | We are delighted to ..., twitter.com, 23 June 2019.

Ramsbottom United On 16 November 2019, he joined Ramsbottom United who were managed by Chris Wilcock.Saturday's transfer list – November 16th – The BetVictor ... , betvictornorthernpremier.co.uk, 16 November 2019. He made 27 appearances for the club over three season.

Clitheroe In August 2021, he signed for Northern Premier League Division One West rivals Clitheroe, where he teamed up with former Ramsbottom duo Billy Priestley and Gary Stopforth who were joint-managers. Ramsbottom manager, Lee Donafee, stated that Clitheroe "made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Stopforth is a very good friend of his and they offered him a good deal, maybe helping them out with coaching and that which is a real shame for us."

Career statistics

+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueFA CupLeague CupOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsBury2006–07League Two3953120004462007–08League Two32150102Appearances in the Football League Trophy04012008–09League Two2201010202602009–10League Two141101030191Total107710150701298Oxford United2010–11League Two6000101080Barrow2010–11Conference Premier145———1452011–12Conference Premier39920—1Appearances in the FA Trophy142102012–13Conference Premier381041—534714Total912461006410329Tamworth2013–14Conference Premier29300—30323Stockport County2014–15Conference North26631—30327AFC Fylde2014–15Conference North90——2Appearances in the Conference North play-offs01102015–16For FA Cup second qualifying round: For FA Cup third qualifying round: National League North39840—6Three appearances in the National League North play-offs, three in FA Trophy04982016–17For FA Trophy third qualifying round: National League North28100—30311Total76940—110919F.C. United of Manchester2017–18National League North30———30Curzon Ashton2017–18National League North19200—00192Colne2019–20NPL Division One West121——1Appearances in the Northern Premier League Division One West play-offs01312019–20NPL Division One North West3011—1051Total15111—20182Ramsbottom United2019–20NPL Division One North West142——1Appearances in the Northern Premier League Challenge Cup01522020–21NPL Division One North West6010—20902021–22NPL Division One West2011——31Total22221—30273Clitheroe2021–22NPL Division One West333——10343Career total427572656037449666

References

External links

Richie Baker Profile at BarrowAFC.com