Leighton John Baines (born 11 December 1984) is an English footballer who plays for Everton and the England national football team.
He started his career with Wigan Athletic, with whom he won the Second Division in the 2002–03 season and was a runner-up in the 2004–05 Championship and the 2006 Football League Cup Final. He joined Everton in 2007, helping them reach the 2009 FA Cup Final. He has played for England at under-21 and senior levels.
Wigan Athletic Baines made his debut for Wigan Athletic in 2002, and was a member of the team that won the Second Division in the 2002–03 season. He was a regular in the first-team when Wigan earned promotion to the Premier League in 2004–05. That season saw Baines score his first goal for the club, a long-range shot against Ipswich Town.
Baines is believed to be a pessimist and often doubts his own
footballing ability, when he secured promotion with Wigan, he doubted he
was good enough to play in the Premier League: "We won promotion to the
Premier League and, straight away, I was thinking, 'Where am I going to
go now?' I should have been celebrating but I spent a large part of
that summer worrying about what it would be like spending the next year
on the bench and in the reserves."[3]
Baines signed a new contract with Wigan in February 2005 despite being linked to a number of FA Premier League clubs, including Manchester United, Arsenal and Everton,[4]
and extended his contract again after impressive displays in his first
season in the Premier League. Whilst at Wigan he started in the 2006 League Cup Final defeat to Manchester United.
In July 2007 Baines rejected a move to Sunderland, after their bid of a reported £6 million was accepted by Wigan.[5] In the following month he signed for Everton for an initial fee of £5 million, with another £1 million in add-ons, dependent on Baines' appearances for Everton.[6][7]
He did not play regularly in his first season, making just 29
appearances in all competitions, due to an injury and the good form of Phil Jagielka and Joseph Yobo at centre back which kept Joleon Lescott at left back.[citation needed]
His second season at Everton saw an increase in Baines's playing time.
Due to an injury to Yobo, Lescott moved to the centre of defence and
Baines played at left back. He was voted Player of the Month at Everton
two months in a row in the 2008–09 season.[citation needed] Baines scored his first ever Everton goal against Portsmouth on 21 March, at Fratton Park,
after 57 games (in all competitions) without scoring. On 30 August
2009, he scored a last minute penalty in a 2–1 win over his former team
Wigan. A month later, he captained Everton for the first time in a UEFA Europa League match against AEK Athens.[8] On 2 January 2010, Baines scored a 95th minute penalty against Carlisle United in the FA Cup.
In the 2010–11 campaign Baines played every minute of Everton's Premier League games,[9]
as well as scoring seven goals in all competitions. His contribution
was rewarded with the club's Player of the Season, Players' Player of
the Season, and Goal of the Season awards.[10] His goal against Chelsea,
scored from direct free kick, was voted Everton Goal of the Season. He
also contributed 11 assists throughout the season, 5th overall in the League, and was the league's highest assisting defender.[citation needed]
Baines scored five times during the 2011–12 season, four of which were penalties. He reached 99 consecutive league games before ending his season early due to injury.[11] His performance at left back was deemed impressive enough to be named in the PFA's Premier League Team of the Year in 2012, the first Everton player to do so for 22 years since Neville Southall in 1989–90.[12] During the 2012–13 season Baines created 116 chances for his teammates,[13] more than any other player in Europe's top five leagues.[14] When 2013's PFA Premier League Team of the Year was announced, Baines was again included,[15] and he also won Everton's Player of the Season and Players' Player of the Season awards.[16] Baines was the only outfield player to have played in every minute of every Premier League game during the season.
He made his debut for the England under-21s in a 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification game in Austria in September 2004 under Peter Taylor.[17]
In the following campaign he scored a vital goal for the England under-21 team against Germany
on 6 October 2006, securing a 1–0 win in the first leg of a UEFA
European U21 Championship play-off. He played all four of England's
matches in the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship finals. In total he played 16 times for the under-21 team and scored one goal.
With Wayne Bridge retiring from international duties, Baines was called up to the senior England squad for the first time in March 2009,[18] and made his full international debut in a friendly against Egypt at Wembley Stadium on 3 March 2010, playing the full 90 minutes of a 3–1 win for England.[19] He was selected in a provisional squad of 30 players for the 2010 FIFA World Cup,[20] but did not make the final squad of 23 players to be taken to South Africa,[21] with Aston Villa left-back Stephen Warnock, who had not played in the warm-up games, taken in his place.[22] Baines made his competitive international debut on 4 June 2011, replacing the injured Ashley Cole in a Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland, assisting Ashley Young for England's equalising goal.
Baines was named in Roy Hodgson's squad for Euro 2012 in May,[23] but did not feature in the tournament with Hodgson using Ashley Cole for all four of England's games.[24] In September 2012, he scored his first international goal against Moldova in a 2014 World Cup Qualification match, a deflected free kick which was the last of England's goals in a 5–0 win.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leighton John Baines[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 11 December 1984 [1] | ||
| Place of birth | Kirkby, Merseyside, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[2] | ||
| Playing position | Left back | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Everton | ||
| Number | 3 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2002 | Wigan Athletic | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2002–2007 | Wigan Athletic | 145 | (4) |
| 2007– | Everton | 202 | (16) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2004–2007 | England U21 | 16 | (1) |
| 2010– | England | 18 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of match played 31 August 2013. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 3 June 2013 | |||
