Archie Baird

Archibald MacKechnie Baird (8 May 1919 – 3 November 2009) was a Scottish footballer, who played for Aberdeen and St Johnstone. He was also capped once by the Scotland national football team.

Archie Baird
Personal information
Full name Archibald MacKechnie Baird[1]
Date of birth (1919-05-08)8 May 1919
Place of birth Rutherglen, Scotland
Date of death 3 November 2009(2009-11-03) (aged 90)
Place of death Aberdeen, Scotland
Playing position(s) Inside forward
Youth career
Rutherglen Glencairn
Strathclyde
1938–1939 Aberdeen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1940 → Leeds United (guest)[2]
1946–1953 Aberdeen 130 (35)
1953–1956 St Johnstone 77 (3)
Total 207 (38)
National team
1946 Scotland 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Baird was born in Rutherglen. Having played for local Junior clubs in the area, he signed for Aberdeen before the Second World War (along with Willie Waddell, although it was the other player of the same name who had been his teammate at Strathclyde), but the war started before he had made the first team.[3] He joined the British Army, but was captured and held as a prisoner of war.[3] He escaped and lived with an Italian family as their "son". In 1989, he published an autobiography, Family of Four, which described these experiences.[3]

Baird returned to Aberdeen before the end of the war.[3] His good form in this period earned him selection for Scotland in a friendly match against Belgium in early 1946.[3] Baird was one of nine Scotland players making their international debut in the match, with only Jimmy Delaney having significant experience.[4] Of those nine debutants, five players did not make another international appearance, including Baird.[4]

Baird helped Aberdeen win the Southern League Cup (a forerunner of the Scottish League Cup) in 1946 and the 1947 Scottish Cup, but his appearances were restricted by injuries.[3] In all he made 104 league appearances for Aberdeen, scoring 26 goals in those matches. He was transferred in 1953 to St Johnstone, where he played for three seasons before retiring in 1956.[3]

Later life and family

After retiring as a player, Baird worked as a teacher and a sports journalist.[3] His sister, journalist Mamie Baird, married TV broadcaster Magnus Magnusson; Archie is the uncle of their children, TV producer Jon Magnusson and TV news presenter Sally Magnusson.

Baird celebrated his 90th birthday in May 2009,[5] at which point he was Aberdeen's oldest living former player; he died quietly in his sleep on 3 November 2009.[1]

Bibliography
  • Baird, Archie (1989). Family of Four. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1-85158-235-5.
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References
  1. Ponting, Ivan (1 December 2009). "Archie Baird: Footballer who escaped from POW camp before helping Aberdeen to post-war triumphs". The Independent. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  2. "Leeds United Wartime Guest Profiles - Archie Baird". Leeds United FC History. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  3. Archie Baird – A Squad, Scottish Football Association.
  4. Wed 23 Jan 1946 Scotland 2 Belgium 2, London Hearts.
  5. Birthday milestone for Archie Archived 26 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Aberdeen Evening Express (8 May 2009)
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