Baker passes away

LONDON: Peter Baker, a key player in Tottenham Hotspur’s 1961 double winning side, died on Wednesday at the age of 84, Spurs announced.

A right-back, the London-born Baker signed for Tottenham in June 1949 and went on to make 342 appearances.

He achieved a lasting place in the club’s affections as an integral part of Bill Nicholson’s 1961 squad, which became the first team since Aston Villa in 1896-97 to win both the league title and FA Cup in the same season.

After helping Spurs retain the FA Cup the following season and then win the 1963 European Cup Winners’ Cup, Baker left White Hart Lane in the summer of 1965 when he emigrated to Durban in South Africa.

A statement on the official club website read: “It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our former Double-winning right-back Peter Baker who passed away following illness earlier this morning. He was 84.”