Alex Baptiste

Alexander Aaron John Baptiste (born 31 January 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for League One side Bolton Wanderers.

Club Career

Mansfield Town

Born in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, Baptiste came up through the youth team at Mansfield Town. He was originally a central midfielder before gradually dropping back into defence and made his first-team debut aged 17 against Barnsley in April 2003.

On 12 December 2003 he joined newly promoted Conference National side Tamworth on a one-month loan deal, making four league appearances, before returning to Mansfield on 12 January 2004. On 7 February he was sent out again on loan for a month, this time to Burton Albion, for whom he made three appearances.

Baptiste established himself as first-choice central defender for Mansfield Town towards the end of the 2003–04 season. He was ever-present during the 2006–07 season, and by the end of the campaign had made over 150 appearances for Mansfield. Baptiste signed a new three-year contract despite interest from Crewe Alexandra in the summer of 2007. However, he missed three months of the 2007–08 season with a back injury. After Mansfield Town were relegated to the Conference National at the end of the 2007–08 season, he requested a transfer, which was granted. He made a total of 198 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring six goals.

Blackpool

On 1 July 2008, Baptiste agreed a deal to join Championship club Blackpool. Speaking about the move, he described it as a "great opportunity and challenge". He started the season as a regular in the Seasiders' reserve team, and for the first few months of the season he was not named in the first-team squad. He made his first-team debut on 22 November 2008 against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux at right-back. He scored his first goal for the Seasiders in a 1–1 draw with Ipswich Town at Portman Road on 14 February 2009. Th

This page also has a version in other languages :  Алекс Баптист (russian)