Nathan Baker

Nathan Luke Baker (born 23 April 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Championship club Bristol City. Baker is a product of the Aston Villa Academy and had loan spells at Lincoln City and Millwall and Bristol City F.C. He has represented England at U19, U20, and U21 levels.

Club Career

Aston Villa

Early career

Baker signed for Aston Villa as a 13-year-old in 2004, and rose through the ranks at the club, making his Academy debut in 2007. He was a pivotal figure in the centre of defence alongside Ciaran Clark in the 2007–08 season, as Villa clinched the national title, defeating Manchester City. Baker finished the season with 1 goal from 23 appearances for the Academy team, and 2 goals from 7 appearances for the Reserves, who also tasted success by clinching the Premier Reserve League South.

The defender progressed to the first-team in the summer of 2008 by making the squad for the tour of Switzerland, of which Baker played in both matches against FC Wil and FC Zurich. In July 2008, Baker was named on the bench for the second leg of the UEFA Intertoto Cup tie against Odense Boldklub. A week later he was again named on the bench, this time for the trip to Icelandic side Fimleikafelag Hafnarfjarðar in the Second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.

On 23 October 2009, Baker signed for Lincoln City on a month-long loan deal alongside fellow defender Eric Lichaj. Lincoln City manager and former Aston Villa striker Chris Sutton handed Baker his league debut at Sincil Bank on 24 October 2009, in a 0–0 draw with Torquay United. Baker impressed at Lincoln, and his loan deal was eventually extended to the end of the 2009–10 season.

Baker was banned from attending Aston Villa's League Cup final against Manchester United at Wembley Stadium on 28 February 2010 after being caught trying to sell his allocation of tickets via the social networking website Facebook. The 18-year-old defender attempted to sell

This page also has a version in other languages :  Нейтан Бейкер (russian)