Celebrating George Baldock

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Stannington Blade

Stannington Blade

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I know we have another thread already for our condolences but I also thought a space only for celebration of the moments and impact George Baldock had is warranted.

For a while George was my favourite player. I've always been one for mentality over technique and while "furious" had no little technique his mentality was absolutely the pinnacle and epitome of everything Sheffield United.

Weirdly one of my favourite Baldock memories wasn't him actually playing but of listening to Bladespod with Beans and Roygbiv debating weekly how "the angriest man in football" never got sent off. I think this sums up what I mean about mentality - Baldock would be ferociously competitive and go in for big tackles but if he was booked he could be trusted not to control and channel that streak for the team.

In terms of playing memories the ones that stand out at his battles with Zaha which were genuinely terrifying and fascinating to watch.
However the best memory for me is the Norwitch Prem goal. It absolutely summed us up at that point players playing with a bravery and a spark that they hadn't previously accessed. Baldock a player whose end product was sometimes questioned pulling out a cruff turn, reverse step over that sent the defender for a hot dog and then a lovely finish.

Rest in peace Starman - I'm sure there will be other memories too.
 

Mine will always be him after the final whistle if we’ve won. Fist pumping the fans, back slapping the players and being hugged and pulled into Wilder after another 110% performance. He was always the one shouting “YESSSSS! CMONNNN” at the end and then on “Behind the Blades” he was captured doing the same down the tunnel and in the changing room.

A real passionate fans and players favourite, he just got Sheffield United FC that only a few did. It was as if he grew up all his life on Shoreham Street and was Blade through and through.

Ahhh man. RIP Starman.
 
Stannington Blade said:
I know we have another thread already for our condolences but I also thought a space only for celebration of the moments and impact George Baldock had is warranted.

For a while George was my favourite player. I've always been one for mentality over technique and while "furious" had no little technique his mentality was absolutely the pinnacle and epitome of everything Sheffield United.

Weirdly one of my favourite Baldock memories wasn't him actually playing but of listening to Bladespod with Beans and Roygbiv debating weekly how "the angriest man in football" never got sent off. I think this sums up what I mean about mentality - Baldock would be ferociously competitive and go in for big tackles but if he was booked he could be trusted not to control and channel that streak for the team.

In terms of playing memories the ones that stand out at his battles with Zaha which were genuinely terrifying and fascinating to watch.
However the best memory for me is the Norwitch Prem goal. It absolutely summed us up at that point players playing with a bravery and a spark that they hadn't previously accessed. Baldock a player whose end product was sometimes questioned pulling out a cruff turn, reverse step over that sent the defender for a hot dog and then a lovely finish.

Rest in peace Starman - I'm sure there will be other memories too.
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Great post.

For me, Baldock was like Billy, Bash and so many others over the last few years in particular, he was a lad that just seemed to love football and just get it, someone else posted a pic of him with a beer in the dugouts after promotion to the Premier League, reflecting and taking it all in

He just got it. Gave nothing less than his all every game and I think we all perhaps thought that we were living our dreams through the likes of Baldock. He was everything Sheffield United in so many ways. He wasn’t a fan when he arrived, but he was when he left. A sad day when he left and of course nothing lasts forever

But he wasn’t just heart and determination. He was rapid. Sometimes too quick for having the ball at his feet or his team mates when he went forward but defensively you’d back him each time in a footrace

We got the best years out of Baldock and he got nothing but adoration from us fans for what he gave us.

Brutal reality that life is short, live it to the full and go do what makes you happy. So sad that the best end to his career in the sun should end so quickly into his Greek Odysey.

RIP George
 
Seen hundreds of footballers sign for United and pull on the red and white stripes over my lifetime. A few of them actually become Blades, give their all as if it was any one of us running out on that pitch, have that connection with fans and club and will always have a special place in our hearts and memories.
George, you are absolutely up there on my all time list.
 
I vividly remember him scoring against Sunderland on Boxing Day 2017. They were in the middle of their collapse from the Premier League, while we were rising up towards it. That goal always stood out to me as a perfect example of how dynamic our play was when we were at our best. A delightful ball from the deadline by O'Connell, and Georgie had crept into the middle of the box unseen, to smash a header into the net. He'd had a great game to that point already, by making Bryan Oviedo look like he was playing in ballet pumps rather than boots, so the goal was the icing on the cake.
 
Just been George , he could turn a game with an angry tackle ( probably get a yellow card lol ) but the momentum of his passion would raise the crowd, a fist pump towards the crowd, he just got us , he will be remembered 🕯
 
Plenty but the one that sticks in the mind was at Norwich away a couple of seasons ago. He was up against a winger and I was with my lad down near the front and only half a dozen seats away from the away friends.

The Norwich winger went down like a sack of spuds after challenging for a ball with George Baldock and won the free kick, and there was a fan in the Norwich end who wasn’t happy and gave him some verbals. 5 minutes later he went one better and hit the same Norwich player with a belter of a tackle, and the balls went out of play hitting the advertising boards with a thud. Baldock gave the player some verbals and looked up and gave the Norwich fan a glare.

I’ve probably seen most of his games for the Blades but that a run of the mill moment spoke volumes. A whole hearted and committed player who asked for no quarter and gave the same in return. Sometimes that is all that you want to see.
 
Let me start by saying, I was a crap footballer, but if I could have ever been like any United player in my lifetime it would have been George.
Fierce but fair. Hardworking but gifted. Passionate but respectful. A true Legend and the Lane and a "proper footballer".
The looks wouldnt have gone a miss either 😎
Like most older generation my dad didn't particularly like the modern footballer antics, which is probably why he took to George so much. Like with Bash it always shocked us when he didn't speak in Yorkshire accent- but I mean that as a compliment. On top of it all he seemed a real family man, loved by all the players, and genuinely adored by..ever..single..fan.
 
I don't have one particular memory, I just loved the way he played with fire in his belly. A proper 110%er. He played the way that I always want to see players play when they pull on the shirt, with passion, fire and total commitment. Never hid, never shirked, always ready to mix it. And he had skill too. He wasn't just a blood and thunder type, just like Basham as well. One of the few you could count on to put in a proper shift, hail, rain, snow or blow. It's just mind-numbing what has happened.
 

FTPE said:
Let me start by saying, I was a crap footballer, but if I could have ever been like any United player in my lifetime it would have been George.
Fierce but fair. Hardworking but gifted. Passionate but respectful. A true Legend and the Lane and a "proper footballer".
The looks wouldnt have gone a miss either 😎
Like most older generation my dad didn't particularly like the modern footballer antics, which is probably why he took to George so much. Like with Bash it always shocked us when he didn't speak in Yorkshire accent- but I mean that as a compliment. On top of it all he seemed a real family man, loved by all the players, and genuinely adored by..ever..single..fan.
Click to expand...
Nicely said.
 
Furious George was one of the few players we’ve signed who didn’t grow up a Blade, but became one. Like his colleague Chris Basham, George Baldock is more than just a player who played for Sheffield United.

He became a Blade, one of us, not one of the legions of Them. Bellowing to the crowd after a goal or a victory, the fist pumping, he got us, and we got him. Oh my, just how much we got him.

He will always have a special place in our hearts, one of the special team that got us promoted to the Premier Leavue and lifted us up to a ninth place finish, then got us promoted again.

Once a Blade, always a Blade. RIP Starman.

IMG_7110.webp
 
I remember the season before he signed. We played MK Dons at home, and battered them. Was sat in the directors box. Remember Gary Sinclair singling out Baldock for having a good game for them and I agreed, thought he looked a great player.

Was over the moon we signed him. Integral to our future successes, but an absolute bargain, especially compared to what we’ve paid for Burrows, who is a similar age and from a level to George when he first came to us.
 
Gin&Juice said:
I remember the season before he signed. We played MK Dons at home, and battered them. Was sat in the directors box. Remember Gary Sinclair singling out Baldock for having a good game for them and I agreed, thought he looked a great player.

Was over the moon we signed him. Integral to our future successes, but an absolute bargain, especially compared to what we’ve paid for Burrows, who is a similar age and from a level to George when he first came to us.
Click to expand...
I don't mean to be a pedantic fucker, but we signed him from Oxford

Their fans are absolutely gutted and waxing lyrical about him. They're suggesting the club make their next home game a celebration of him too which is lovely.
 
I remember him frustrating Wilfred Zaha throughout our 1-0 win at Selhurst Park. George got booked early in the game and was very nearly getting a second yellow for the rest of the game :-)
 
Slim Man said:
I don't mean to be a pedantic fucker, but we signed him from Oxford

Their fans are absolutely gutted and waxing lyrical about him. They're suggesting the club make their next home game a celebration of him too which is lovely.
Click to expand...
He was only on loan at Oxford.
 
Seems as though I like many others first laid eyes on him in that game at MK Dons. I remember it was a massive party atmosphere and we dominated them but there was something about that quick, feisty right back and I was delighted when we then signed him.

Except it turned out that it wasn’t the first time I’d seen him. My mate reminded me this morning that he’d scored the only goal in a match between Oxford and AFC Wimbledon we watched on a mate’s stag do. Weirdly that game was nine years ago yesterday. A strange, sad coincidence.
 
Slim Man said:
I don't mean to be a pedantic fucker, but we signed him from Oxford

Their fans are absolutely gutted and waxing lyrical about him. They're suggesting the club make their next home game a celebration of him too which is lovely.
Click to expand...
We signed Lundstram from Oxford, Baldock was on loan there in a prior season. I'm certain that we signed Baldock from MK Dons.
 
George Baldock was for many us the guy we all wanted to be . Popular with team mates , loved by supporters , respected by opponents , fiercely competitive, talented and a good looking fella .
Who wouldn't have wanted those attributes and qualities .
He earned the Starman name .
Sadly the phrase " The brightest stars burn the fastest, so we must love them while we can" is very appropriate.

RIP George
 
A recent memory of George was at Bournemouth away last season. Baldock was back in the side after an injury and was giving absolutely everything for the shirt, running himself into the ground. Fans and players were both so dejected after chucking away another lead late in the 90+ minute, but we were giving the players an ovation anyway. George was the first one over to the away fans, you could see he was knackered butt he was but just shaking his head and showing how disappointed he was in the performance. He gave his all and we loved him for it. He was one of the few bright spots in an awful season last year- that roar when he won the penalty to get us over the line vs Wolves.
 

Gin&Juice said:
I remember the season before he signed. We played MK Dons at home, and battered them. Was sat in the directors box. Remember Gary Sinclair singling out Baldock for having a good game for them and I agreed, thought he looked a great player.

Was over the moon we signed him. Integral to our future successes, but an absolute bargain, especially compared to what we’ve paid for Burrows, who is a similar age and from a level to George when he first came to us.
Click to expand...

True story.....I was at the promotion div 1 away game at MK Dons with my partner and grandson.
My partner can't stand football and has only seen us play about 3 times.

At half time I asked her what she thought of the match and she said 2 things.

1: She said the difference between Sheff Utd and MK Dons is that Sheff Utd play as a team.
She said my team look really good, so well drilled as players seem to know what to do and who to pass to.

2: She said their number 2, the little quick guy, was really good, saying he stands out as the only good player on the MK Dons team.
Of course she was talking about George, even back then she (someone with little football knowledge) noticed how good he was.
 
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