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From The BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/paulfletcher/2009/09/carl_baker_and_stockport_an_ex.html#138740
Worth a read if nothing else...
"In an age when football is a multi-million pound global business I often struggle to relate to the game and its protagonists, who have become remote celebrity figures with little in common with the people who pay handsomely to watch them.
But every now and again a story comes along that unlocks something emotional locked away deep inside me, the sort that really makes me feel as though I can empathise with a footballer once more.
This is one of them.
League One Stockport drew 2-2 at Yeovil on Saturday. It was a result which took both teams on to six points so far in the season and was in many ways unremarkable.
What made it significant was that both the Stockport goals were scored by Hatters forward Carl Baker, taking his tally to nine goals for the season and making him the highest scorer in the country this season.
Just days earlier Stockport manager Gary Ablett had the unenviable task of breaking the news to Baker that the player's elder brother Michael had lost his battle against leukaemia.
Baker was under no pressure to play on Saturday but called Ablett on Thursday evening to say that he wanted to be part of the team.
Baker scored twice on Saturday days after the death of his brother
After putting Stockport in front with his 22nd minute penalty he raced to the dugout and collected a T-shirt he had prepared in advance. It said 'For u Mike' and Baker held it aloft while all of his team-mates, goalkeeper included, rushed to join him.
At the end of the game Baker was sent over to the away supporters by Ablett. A couple of hundred had made the long trek south to Huish Park and they presented the striker with a card that everyone in the away end had signed.
Baker was hugged by many of them and I'm told that it was a genuinely emotional moment. For me, it is an example of what football is really all about."
To make matters even worse, Baker's younger brother also has leukaemia and it is obviously an extremely difficult time for the whole family.
Worth a read if nothing else...
"In an age when football is a multi-million pound global business I often struggle to relate to the game and its protagonists, who have become remote celebrity figures with little in common with the people who pay handsomely to watch them.
But every now and again a story comes along that unlocks something emotional locked away deep inside me, the sort that really makes me feel as though I can empathise with a footballer once more.
This is one of them.
League One Stockport drew 2-2 at Yeovil on Saturday. It was a result which took both teams on to six points so far in the season and was in many ways unremarkable.
What made it significant was that both the Stockport goals were scored by Hatters forward Carl Baker, taking his tally to nine goals for the season and making him the highest scorer in the country this season.
Just days earlier Stockport manager Gary Ablett had the unenviable task of breaking the news to Baker that the player's elder brother Michael had lost his battle against leukaemia.
Baker was under no pressure to play on Saturday but called Ablett on Thursday evening to say that he wanted to be part of the team.
Baker scored twice on Saturday days after the death of his brother
After putting Stockport in front with his 22nd minute penalty he raced to the dugout and collected a T-shirt he had prepared in advance. It said 'For u Mike' and Baker held it aloft while all of his team-mates, goalkeeper included, rushed to join him.
At the end of the game Baker was sent over to the away supporters by Ablett. A couple of hundred had made the long trek south to Huish Park and they presented the striker with a card that everyone in the away end had signed.
Baker was hugged by many of them and I'm told that it was a genuinely emotional moment. For me, it is an example of what football is really all about."
To make matters even worse, Baker's younger brother also has leukaemia and it is obviously an extremely difficult time for the whole family.
