George Baldock was destined to be a star from his very first interview

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The youngest Baldock brother always seemed on course for greatness

About 24 hours ago, I shared a memory with MK Dons photographer Lee Scriven as the academy products who stared in Tuesday night’s penalty shoot-out win win Arsenal U21s went back out onto the pitch for what has become a now customary picture when a few of them get their first run-outs.

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It reminded me of a day back in 2011, up at Boundary Park when Dons beat Oldham 2-1 in the final game of the season. That day, six academy players would finish the game on the field together. Two of them were brothers, and one of those brothers was George Baldock.

After making his first senior start, his smile shone from ear-to-ear as he came out and faced the media for the first time in his career. Confident, passionate, articulate, George spoke about the game, his prospects and his pride after playing for the last 23 minutes or so alongside his brother Sam. From that interview, in spite of Sam’s ever-growing stock at that point, we knew George would have just as big a future.

It took another few years before we’d fully get to see it. A youngster on the periphery for a while, and with the EFL Trophy in a different state to the one we see nowadays, opportunities for the academy products were few and far between. But he stuck at it.

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In the summer of 2013, things started to change. The trio of George, Dele Alli and Patrick Bamford appeared to do little but hit the gym and tan. Ending the season as kids, they returned as something else for the following season. And all three of their careers began to sky rocket from there.

That season, he’d get his first Dons goal back where it all began at Oldham, while his second - a stoppage time winner at Swindon - is a picture everyone at the County Ground that day will remember fondly... and probably enviously as well. That summer in the gym paid off.

Despite being a regular, he would depart for Oxford on loan for a year, missing the promotion party of 2015 but returning for the second-half of the Championship season, much to the chagrin of the U’s supporters who, like everyone, quickly fell in love with the guy.

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On his return to Stadium MK, he was the same old George. Happy, smiling, desperate to make his mark and become a mainstay for the club he grew up with. And so it would be, at last as he spent the next 18 months as a first-team regular under both Karl Robinson and Robbie Neilson. With some dark days along the way too, Baldock was one who would shoulder the responsibility on multiple occasions of fronting up in front of our microphones, giving his honest takes both on and off the record. Professional, honest, humble and truly the same lad we met at Oldham.

When Sheffield United came calling, they were fresh off their promotion from League One, and it was a no-brainer for the full-back to make the move. It was a bittersweet day though - Dons were losing a cracking talent and a real dressing room character, but he was getting his opportunity to go on and be the player everyone wanted him to be.

A few months later, I bumped into him, literally, in one of MK’s busier watering holes on a Saturday night. I didn’t immediately recognise him, but he did me. We had a quick catch-up, no more than 30 seconds, before I thought I ought to let him get on with his night. Not much sticks with me from that night other than bumping into him, and how I thought he was the same George I met at Boundary Park despite his new-found stature.

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We always watched his career with great joy. Seeing him tear it up in the Premier League, becoming a mainstay at Bramall Lane, to his international call-up for Greece a couple of years ago, George’s exploits were always met fondly amongst the press pack in MK, and amongst the fanbase too. And his summer move to Panathinaikos was just the next chapter in an already glittering career.

The Baldocks are a hugely important family to MK Dons. From Sam being the first talent off the production line, to elder brother James taking up as the club’s doctor for a time too, George was the loveable rogue.

News of his passing has sent shockwaves not just though Milton Keynes, but through everyone who had the pleasure of his company, even for the shortest of times. His beaming smile can be seen in the montage of players in the tunnel at Stadium MK and will always be fondly remembered in those hallways.

Rest in peace, George. One of our own.

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