Phil Baker (footballer)

Last updated

Phil Baker
Personal information
Nickname(s) Snake
Date of birth (1952-03-22) 22 March 1952 (age 72)
Original team(s) Rutherglen, Albury (O&M)
Height 192 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 93 kg (205 lb)
Playing career1
YearsClubGames (Goals)
1971–1975 North Melbourne 058 0(52)
1975 Geelong 009 00(9)
1977–1979 North Melbourne 039 0(64)
Total106 (125)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1979.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Phil Baker (born 22 March 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for North Melbourne and Geelong in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1970s.

Baker was a high marking forward and started his career at North Melbourne in 1971, after originally playing with Rutherglen and then Albury in the Ovens & Murray Football League.

Five games into the 1975 season he was transferred to Geelong by Allen Aylett due to financial reasons. His loyalty to North was never questioned after his time away and in 1977 he proved to be an integral part of the North Melbourne forward line. This was evident as he played a major role in a premiership year with 35 goals.

He kicked six of the club's nine goals in the 1977 Grand Final against Collingwood and three in the following weekend's Grand Final Replay. His accuracy at goal as opposed to Arnold Briedis's inaccuracy, kept North Melbourne in the game against Collingwood.

In 1978 he played in North Melbourne's losing grand final against Hawthorn and kicked another bag of six goals. The highlight of the 1978 grand final was his high leaping marks and desperate efforts to get North Melbourne back in the game. [1] However, his efforts alone were not enough to win the grand final for North Melbourne. In these three grand finals he kicked a total of 15 goals. [2]

Phil Baker's nickname was "Snake" and wore jumper number 29. His teammates usually entered the field with the immortal words ringing in their ears, No messing around, long bombs to Snake". [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malcolm Blight</span> Australian rules footballer, born 1950

Malcolm Jack Blight AM is a former Australian rules footballer who played for and coached the North Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Woodville Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He also coached the Geelong Football Club, Adelaide Football Club and St Kilda Football Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leigh Matthews</span> Australian rules footballer (born 1952)

Leigh Raymond Matthews is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and coached Collingwood and the Brisbane Lions in the VFL and renamed Australian Football League (AFL).

Phillip Carman is a former Australian rules footballer who represented Norwood in the SANFL and Collingwood, Melbourne, Essendon and North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1970s and 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AFL Grand Final</span> Australian rules football match to determine the AFL season premiers

The AFL Grand Final is an Australian rules football match to determine the premiers for the Australian Football League (AFL) season. Prior to 1990 it was known as the VFL Grand Final, as the league was then known as the Victorian Football League, and both were renamed due to the national expansion of the competition. Played at the end of the finals series, the game has been held annually since 1898, except in 1924. It is traditionally staged on the afternoon of the last Saturday in September, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. As the premier match of the AFL season, it attracts one of the largest audiences in Australian sport, regularly attracting a crowd of more than 100,000 and a television audience of millions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell Robertson</span> Australian rules footballer, born 1978

Russell "Robbo" Robertson is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who last played for the Melbourne Football Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Bradshaw</span> Australian rules footballer, born 1978

Daniel Mark Bradshaw is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Bears, Brisbane Lions and Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Leon Davis is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Douglas Graeme Wade is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club and North Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Rivalries in the Australian Football League exist between many teams, most of which typically draw large crowds and interest regardless of both teams' positions on the ladder. The AFL encourages the building of such rivalries, as a method of increasing publicity for the league, to the point of designating one round each year as "Rivalry Round" when many of these match-ups are held on the one weekend. Whilst some rivalries, such as between teams from adjacent areas, are still strong, the designation of an entire round of fixtures as a Rivalry Round is often criticised due to some arbitrary match-ups, or ignoring stronger and more recent rivalries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1997 AFL Grand Final</span> Grand final of the 1997 Australian Football League season

The 1997 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Adelaide Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 27 September 1997. It was the 101st annual grand final of the Australian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1997 AFL season. The match, attended by 99,645 spectators, was won by Adelaide by a margin of 31 points, marking that club's first premiership victory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1934 VFL season</span> 38th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL)

The 1934 VFL season was the 38th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs and ran from 5 May to 13 October, comprising an 18-match home-and-away season followed by a four-week finals series featuring the top four clubs.

The 1969 VFL season was the 73rd season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 5 April until 27 September, and comprised a 20-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.

The 1980 VFL season was the 84th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 29 March until 27 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top five clubs.

The 1972 VFL season was the 76th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 1 April until 7 October, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top five clubs – an increase from the four clubs which had contested the finals in previous years.

The 1977 VFL grand final was a series of two Australian rules football matches between the North Melbourne Football Club and the Collingwood Football Club. Together they are considered the 80th and 81st grand finals of the Victorian Football League and were staged to determine the premiers for the 1977 VFL season. The premiership is usually decided by a single match; however, as the first grand final ended in a draw, a grand final replay was played the following week and was won by North Melbourne. Both grand finals were held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The first was held on 24 September 1977. The game was attended by 108,224 spectators and ended in a draw, with both teams scoring 76 points. This was the second time a draw had occurred in a VFL grand final, the first being in 1948.

The 1978 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Hawthorn Football Club and North Melbourne Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 30 September 1978. It was the 82nd annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1978 VFL season. The match, attended by 101,704 spectators, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 18 points, marking that club's fourth premiership victory.

The 1980 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Richmond Football Club and Collingwood Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 27 September 1980. It was the 84th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1980 VFL season. The match, attended by 113,461 spectators, was won by Richmond by a margin of 81 points, marking that club's 10th VFL/AFL premiership victory, and they would not win the premiership again until 2017.

The Collingwood Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League.

The 1927 VFL grand final was an Australian rules football match contested between the Collingwood Football Club and Richmond Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 1 October 1927. It was the grand final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1927 VFL season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 AFL Grand Final</span> Grand final of the 2011 Australian Football League season

The 2011 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Collingwood Football Club and the Geelong Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 1 October 2011. It was the 116th annual grand final of the Australian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 2011 AFL season. The match, attended by 99,537 spectators, was won by Geelong by a margin of 38 points, marking the club's ninth VFL/AFL premiership victory. Geelong's Jimmy Bartel was awarded the Norm Smith Medal as the best player on the ground.

References

  1. ↑ Heath O'Loughlin (21 May 2019). "Phil "Snake" Baker returns". North Melbourne Football Club. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  2. ↑ O'Loughlin, Heath (21 May 2019). "Phil 'Snake' Baker returns". NMFC. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  3. ↑ Matthew Watson (7 January 2016). ""Long bombs to Snake"". North Melbourne Football Club. The Footy Almanac. Retrieved 15 June 2023.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.