In April 2017, as MK Dons and Sheffield United were playing in League One, home defender George Baldock took a moment to look across at the Stadium:MK away end. More than 7,000 ecstatic Blades supporters were crammed into the arena, relishing every second of a sixth straight triumph with the championship already secured.
In a few of weeks, Baldock had become a Blade and, in his first media interview, he spoke glowingly of what he had seen, the red and white invasion of the bucolic city back home in Buckinghamshire. Even he was unable to foresee the trip they would embark on together, but it was his first genuine taste of what United was and could be. In less than two years, he had helped United win the Premier League; a year later, they were in the running for the Europa League but Covid-19 devastated their hopes by spreading over the world.
Baldock went after the Premier League like he’d been waiting his whole life for this opportunity. In front of over 60,000 fans at a brand-new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where the paint was still fresh, a man who had played in the National League with Tamworth and spent time on loan at ÍBV in Iceland scored his first Premier League goal. Though not quite as impressive as Roy of the Rovers, it was nevertheless Baldock’s own football tale, demonstrating a man’s will to make the most of his career to the fullest.
He quickly won over the supporters’ affection and became United’s first-choice right-back, defeating Keiron Freeman in the process. More often than not, Unitedites value style and grace, but passion and dedication are always necessary—qualities that Baldock had in plenty.
Supporters dubbed him “Furious George,” and for good reason—his aggressive style on the pitch was perceived as a means of levelling the playing field and gaining the upper hand over whoever unfortunate left-winger was in his firing line that particular afternoon. It began with a pure desire to succeed—a kind of desperation, really. Even at the players’ lounge adjacent to the press conference room at United’s Shirecliffe training field, he detested losing in pool, though he readily acknowledged that his skill was more at kicking than potting balls.
The supporters realised through the man’s zeal that he represented their team like a man born in Beighton or Birley, not in Buckinghamshire, and it garnered them both immediate respect and devotion.
A nightmare to confront, a dream to manage. In our initial conversation, he expressed excitement at the prospect of participating in the Championship; yet, in our most recent exchange, he was discussing his experience facing up against Kylian Mbappe and the other members of France’s World Cup-winning team, Greece.
At United, he turned into an international football player and contributed to the most thrilling voyage in the team’s recent history. He settled in Steel City and had a family. At the Lane, he will always be regarded as a legend.That’s The Starman sprinting to the right.
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