Chris Baird

Southampton

Baird started his career at Northern Irish club, Ballymena United, before moving to Southampton in 1998. Baird went on to make his progress through the Southampton's Academy and in 2001, Baird signed his first professional contract with the club, keeping him until 2002. Baird made his debut for Southampton on 22 March 2003 as a late substitute for David Prutton in a 2–2 draw at home to Aston Villa. His second appearance came in a 6–1 defeat at Arsenal, when he came on after 26 minutes to replace Fabrice Fernandes, with Arsenal already 5–0 up. Baird's first start came on the final day of the 2002–03 League season, in a 1–0 win at Manchester City. A week later, he started for Southampton in the 2003 FA Cup final, also against Arsenal. Southampton lost the match 1–0, but Baird was voted as the Saints man of the match. In the 2003–04 season, Baird struggled to make the first team and was loaned out to Walsall on a one–month deal. Baird made his Walsall debut on 27 September 2003, in a 2–1 win over Preston North End. Baird then provided an assist for one of the goals for Darren Wrack, in a 2–0 win over Wigan Athletic on 25 October 2003. Baird's regular playing time in the first team saw him extend his loan spell at Walsall for another month, leading manager Colin Lee to unsuccessfully try to sign him for £1 million. Baird was sent off in his last appearance for Walsall, when he received a second yellow card, in a 0–0 draw against Crystal Palace on 21 November…

On 3 June 2003, Baird made his Northern Ireland début against Italy in a 2–0 defeat, becoming a regular member of the national side, despite playing little domestically between 2003 and 2005. In March 2007, Baird was called up by the national team despite sustaining a groin injury against Colchester United a week before. Baird missed two international matches as a result. Northern Ireland FA deemed it a failure to comply to call-up, thus invoked a FIFA rule which states that "any player who fails to comply with a call-up for whatever reason may not play for his club for the duration of the call-up plus one day," and Southampton would risk points deduction by playing him during the said period. Baird then made his 50th international cap on 25 March 2011 and was given a captaincy against Serbia. He was previously given a captaincy in August 2007 against Liechtenstein in a Euro 2008 qualifier. On 18 May 2016, Baird was selected as part of the provisional 27-man squad to represent Northern Ireland in the UEFA Euro 2016 competition. On 28 May 2016, Baird was named in the final 23 man Euro 2016 squad for Northern Ireland. On 17 August 2016, Baird announced his retirement from international football.

Club

International

In September 2010 his mother's home in Rasharkin was petrol bombed by the loyalists in a sectarian attack. Baird became a father on New Years Day in 2005 when his partner gave birth to a daughter, Shannon. In May 2006, Baird and his partner, Sarah, were married.