Back in 1977, the visit to The Dell of the Match of the Day cameras was a fairly big deal, especially as Southampton had not been a top-flight team since 1974. But they were there to record the visit of Blackpool in the November and therefore caught the debut of local lad Graham Baker, a month shy of his 19^th birthday.

The youngster could not have made a more eye-catching start, scoring after just 58 seconds by side-footing in after an Alan Ball corner (see scrapbook section) as Saints won 2-0. He had been given the opportunity because Steve Williams was suspended having been sent off along with Peter Osgood the previous week in an acrimonious match at Blackburn, but within 12 months, the two young midfielders were consistently playing alongside each other in a Southampton engine room that also included the experienced Alan Ball. Baker only made two further appearances is his debut season, but the club won promotion and, in their first season back Division One he made 22 appearances and scored five goals.

His dependability, hard-tackling and hustling greatly contributed to the club successfully re-establishing themselves among the elite.

In 1980-81, with Kevin Keegan recently arrived from Hamburg, Southampton finished 6^th, their highest ever top-flight position and Graham played in 39 games scoring eight goals, form that led to two England U21 caps (see scrapbook section). He had a sound, phlegmatic temperament which meant it was a surprise when there was a falling out with Lawrie McMenemy, but perhaps McMenemy was easing Baker out of the door because the fee banked by his £250,000 transfer to John Bond’s Manchester City, part-fund Peter Shilton’s subsequent arrival.

Mixed fortunes awaited him at Maine Rd as City were relegated, promoted and then relegated again. In 1987 he was allowed to rejoin Saints, now under ex-team-mate Chris Nicholl’s management, on a free transfer. He gave the club another three years of service, in a midfield that included Jimmy Case, Glen Cockerill and Andy Townsend before the combative Barry Horne’s arrival and the onset of various injuries led him to wind down his playing career with ten games for Fulham. He became a driving instructor in Cheam after football and then established his own driving school in 2005 while remaining involved in non-league football in a variety of guises that concluded with a spell coaching at Aldershot’s academy. In 2013 he became a security advisor in Southampton Docks.