Former Dons striker Baldock calls time on his career

The first MK Dons academy graduate Sam Baldock has called time on his career.

The 34-year-old confirmed his retirement via Oxford United - the club he ends his playing days with - and has agreed to take on a new role at the Kassam Stadium, that of Business Development Analyst.

“It’s the right time to retire,” he said. “I’m pleased with the career that I’ve had, and I have met some great people. They say not to have regrets, but I think I will always look back and wish I had been able to play more games for Oxford and really show what I could do.

“In the end it was kind of an easy decision because the injuries had just become too much. This summer was tough, wondering whether I might have another season within me but, in the end, that gamble was not fair on anyone, including the club and my family who have been so supportive while I worked out what to do.”

Baldock, from Buckingham, was one of the first intake in the club’s academy after the move to Milton Keynes in 2003. Handed his debut by Danny Wilson in December 2005, Baldock was handed chances by subsequent managers Martin Allen and Paul Ince, the latter of which gave him a brief cameo at Wembley in the 2-0 win over Grimsby Town in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final in 2008.

Following Ince’s departure though, Roberto Di Matteo gave Baldock his first real run in the team, and the teenager rewarded his manager with 13 goals in 44 appearances as Dons lost in the play-off semi-finals to Scunthorpe United.

Injuries though began to creep in as he was limited to just 28 goals in the following campaign, though he delivered with it 10 goals on Ince’s return to the club.

Under Karl Robinson’s guidance from 2010, Baldock became an important part of the side as Dons once again reached the play-offs. His brilliant free-kick against Peterborough United at Stadium MK, fired under the wall, was one of his most memorable for the club, prompting Posh to table a bid for the striker - a bid Dons accepted, but the move was rejected by Baldock himself after meeing with the London Road side.

With his stock high, Baldock started the following season like a house on fire, scoring six goals in the opening six game, including a brilliant hat-trick Chesterfield, prompting Robinson ally Sam Allardyce to take the striker to West Ham United for a seven-figure fee.

Despite making a good start to life with the Hammers, injuries limited his game-time, and he left after just a season for Bristol Rovers. With a record of a goal every three games across his three seasons at Ashton Gate, Baldock moved on to Brighton, Reading and Derby as he became a Championship regular, before landing at Oxford United in February 2022, reuniting with Robinson at the Kassam Stadium.

But he could make just four appearances for the U’s last season, including a substitute appearance at Stadium MK where it all began, before confirming he would be hanging up his boots once and for all.