From the Archives, from Hibs Monthly 51, in 1992

Prolific goalscorer Joe Baker, truly one of the greatest players ever to pull on the green and white jersey, is being given a deserved testimonial this year by the Hibernian Supporters Association. Joe was a goalscoring genius who had to be seen to be believed, but younger readers will remember him kissing the Easter Road turf during an emotional scene at the Hands Off Hibs rally. His commitment to Hibs is undying.
HM reader, Ted Brack was asked to "ghost write" his autobiography, but unfortunately they are still looking for a firm offer of publication.
With the very kind permission of Ted, and Joe himself, we are proud to be able to bring you extracts of the story of an amazing football career....

THE BAKER BOY
:JOE’S STORY

Part 1: Schoolboy Scoring Sensation

I WAS always able to score goals. Even as an eight-year-old boy playing against 12-yearolds, putting the ball in the net was never a problem.

MY PRIMARY school was Park Street in Motherwell and in my last year there, I led the team to successes in four trophies. Underneath a team group in the local paper, a report commented that a fine crowd had turned out at Fir Park to see Park Street defeat Morningside Primary by 3-0. It added: "All three goals were scored by Joseph Baker, the quick-silver Park Street centre forward." When I moved on to St Joseph's secondary school, the net continued to bulge.

I WAS so in love with football that I would play for the school in the morning then go on to represent Craigneuk Boys Club in the afternoon. Craigneuk is famous as the hometown of the great Scottish boxer Chic Calderwood. Some of the centre halves who marked me in those days might have been better taking up boxing so physical were they. Mind you, if I was picking up a few bruises, I was also still managing to get my fair quota of goals.

MY NEXT milestone was selection for a Lanarkshire schools select to meet Edinburgh at Tynecastle. I managed to hit five goals that day and so started a love affair with Hearts home ground. The reason I loved it of course was that I always seemed to score goals there, usually against the Hearts. If my capital nap hand attracted senior attention, I didn't know anything about it. These days I would probably have been signed on an S-form long since. Then I was left to go my own sweet way.

IT WASN'T always sweet though. I wasn't the only scoring centre-forward in the Baker family. My brother Gerry was also no slouch when it came to hitting the target. Gerry of course went on to play and score for Motherwell, St Mirren, Manchester City, Hibs, Ipswich and Coventry. But the first club to recognise his talent was Chelsea.

THE LONDONERS were at that time managed by Ted Drake who was giving young talent every opportunity. Gerry was invited down to London for a trial and took his 14-year-old wee brother with him for company. When it was time for the trial game to start, Ted Drake discovered that he was one player short of having two teams. You can guess what happened next - Gerry piped up: "My young brother can play a wee bit." Drake kitted me out and we played the game. I know it sounds like something out of a comic book, but Gerry scored two and yours truly managed a hat-trick. The Chelsea boss was delighted and offered us both the chance to join his groundstaff. We accepted.

GERRY WAS reasonably happy, but I hated it. six weeks in a poky bedsit was more than enough for me. I went. home to Motherwell and mum. Gerry stuck it a bit longer but he eventually came home too. Incidentally two other lads taking part in that trial were also to make future impact in football. Bobby Tambling went on to play for Chelsea and England, while the other boy was none other than a certain James Greaves esquire. If anyone had told me that I would be lining up alongside him in a full England shirt at Wembley only five years later, I would have marked them down as a suitable case for treatment!

ALTHOUGH I had been born in Liverpool and spent six weeks there before moving up to Motherwell, l thought of myself as a Scotsman through and through.

FUNNILY enough, I was soon to go back to the city of my birth in the dark blue jersey of a Scottish Schoolboy international team. We travelled to Goodison Park to meet England and in front of 37,000 spectators (yes, 37,000 for a schools match!) we drew 2-2 - I got both our goals. I played against Wales for the Scotland Schoolboy outfit that year as well, when we won 5-2 with me again on the scoring sheet.

WHEN I left school I joined the junior ranks. This was a different world altogether. In those days players could be signed from Junior football by professional clubs at any time. This was no arena for faint hearts and it was certainly a footballing education for a callow youth of fifteen. You had no option but to grow up fast in the killing fields that were, Lanarkshire Junior football circles in those days. I must have done alright though, for goals continued to flow and I was chosen for a Lanarkshire Junior .select which went to Dublin and beat the Leinster Senior League.

ANOTHER senior call was just around the corner and once more it came from a capital city. This time it was Scotland's own fair capital because Hibernian wanted to take me to Easter Road. Hibs had been the team of the early 1950s in Scotland and their great championship winning team was only just beginning to break up. I had always admired their skilful attacking play and their goal grabbing centre-forward Lawrie Reilly was a particular hero of mine.

HIBS had a scout called Davie Wyper who covered the Lanarkshire area for them at that time. Davie brought me to the club's attention and they liked what they saw. I had been playing for Coltness United but Hibs farmed me out to Armadale Thistle which was a nursery team for them at the time. There were four other players on Armadale's books who were earmarked for Hibs - Tommy Millar, brother of Rangers' Jimmy who formed such a lethal partnership with Ralph Brand, Bobby Train, John Rugg and Johnny McLeod.

JOHNNY and I forged an immediate understanding. 'He was a fast tricky winger with two good feet and an exquisite crossing ability. He was to make goals for me with Armadale, Hibs and Arsenal.

I ENJOYED my season with Armadale. I was top scorer in the league, notching well over 40 goals and all the time continuing the learning and toughening up process. Youngsters today who go straight into professional football from the boys' club ranks definitely miss out. I remember Pat Stanton telling me that when he returned to Easter Road after his Junior year with Bonnyrigg Rose, he felt like a man among boys when he mixed with the rest of the ground staff lads.

BEFORE the end of that season Hibs put out a young reserve side against Armadale. I lined up in the Hibs front line and scored four goals in a 10-1 demolition job. The press had started to latch onto my goal scoring feats, and Bill Heeps wrote in the old “Edinburgh Dispatch”: “Young Joe Baker, a prolific scorer, although still only 16 will be eligible for a call up when he reaches his 17th birthday. I forecast that a permanent peg in the Easter Road dressing room will be his by the start of next season”

HE WAS right of course, but neither he nor I could have dreamt just how momentous a season it would be for the young centre-forward who was beginning to be known as “the baker boy”