| 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 | ||
| Position(s) | Inside forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Rutherglen Glencairn | |||
| Strathclyde | |||
| 1938–1939 | Aberdeen | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1940 | →Leeds United (guest)[2] | 1 | (0) |
| 1946–1953 | Aberdeen | 104 | (26) |
| 1953–1956 | St Johnstone | 77 | (3) |
| Total | 182 | (29) | |
| International career | |||
| 1946 | Scotland | 1 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Archibald MacKechnie Baird (8 May 1919 – 3 November 2009) was a Scottishfootballer, who played forAberdeen andSt Johnstone. He was also capped once by theScotland national football team.
Baird was born inRutherglen.[3] Having played for localJunior clubs in the area, he signed for Aberdeen before theSecond World War (along withWillie Waddell, although it was theother player of the same name who had been his teammate atStrathclyde), but the war started before he had made the first team.[4] He joined the British Army, but was captured and held as aprisoner of war.[4] He escaped and lived with an Italian family as their "son". In 1989, he published an autobiography,Family of Four, which described these experiences.[4]
Baird returned to Aberdeen before the end of the war.[4] His good form in this period earned him selection forScotland in afriendly match againstBelgium in early 1946.[4] Baird was one of nine Scotland players making their international debut in the match, with onlyJimmy Delaney having significant experience.[5] Of those nine debutants, five players did not make another international appearance, including Baird.[5]
Baird helped Aberdeen win the Southern League Cup (a forerunner of theScottish League Cup) in 1946 and the1947 Scottish Cup, but his appearances were restricted by injuries.[4] In all he made 104 league appearances for Aberdeen, scoring 26 goals in those matches. He was transferred in 1953 toSt Johnstone, where he played for three seasons before retiring in 1956.[4]
After retiring as a player, Baird worked as ateacher and a sportsjournalist.[4] His sister, journalistMamie Baird, married TV broadcasterMagnus Magnusson; Archie is the uncle of their children, TV producerJon Magnusson and TV news presenterSally Magnusson.
Baird celebrated his 90th birthday in May 2009,[6] at which point he was Aberdeen's oldest living former player; he died quietly in his sleep on 3 November 2009.[1]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Leeds United | 1939–40 | North East League | 1* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1* | 0 |
| Aberdeen | 1938–39 | Scottish Division One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1939–40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1944–45 | No league football was played during the Second World War | |||||||||
| 1945–46 | ||||||||||
| 1946–47 | Scottish Division One | 14 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 7 | |
| 1947–48 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 22 | 7 | ||
| 1948–49 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | ||
| 1949–50 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 6 | ||
| 1950–51 | 27 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 40 | 10 | ||
| 1951–52 | 23 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 6 | ||
| 1952–53 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||
| Total | 104 | 26 | 17 | 2 | 23 | 9 | 144 | 37 | ||
| St Johnstone | 1953–54 | Scottish Division Two | - | - | - | - | ||||
| 1954–55 | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| 1955–56 | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Total | 77 | 3 | - | - | - | - | 77+ | 3+ | ||
| Career total | 182 | 29 | 17+ | 2+ | 23+ | 9+ | 222+ | 40+ | ||
* Unofficial wartime appearances
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 1946 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 0 | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |