Shandon Baptiste

Shandon Harkeem Baptiste (born 8 April 1998) is a Grenadian professional footballer who plays for Brentford as a midfielder. He is a product of the Oxford United and Reading academies and has been capped by Grenada at international level.

Shandon Baptiste
Personal information
Full name Shandon Harkeem Baptiste[1]
Date of birth (1998-04-08) 8 April 1998
Place of birth Grenada[2]
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[3]
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Brentford
Number 26
Youth career
0000–2015 Reading
2015–2017 Oxford United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2020 Oxford United 26 (1)
2017–2018 → Hampton & Richmond Borough (loan) 18 (0)
2020– Brentford 13 (0)
National team‡
2017– Grenada 3 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:56, 29 January 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18:18, 6 September 2018 (UTC)

Club career

Oxford United

A midfielder, Baptiste began his youth career with Reading and after his release, he undertook a scholarship with Oxford United in September 2015.[4] Despite suffering two successive dislocated shoulder injuries during the 2016–17 season,[5] he signed a six-month professional contract in May 2017, which commenced in August 2017.[6] Baptiste made two EFL Trophy appearances during the first half of the 2017–18 season and in December 2017 he signed a new 18-month contract, with the option of a further year.[7][8] Late in December, he departed the club on loan for the remainder of the season.[8]

Baptiste began the 2018–19 League One season as a regular in the team and scored his first senior goal in a 3–0 EFL Cup second-round victory over Newport County on 28 August 2018.[9] After his sixth appearance of the season, he signed a four-year contract extension.[10] Baptiste missed two months with a third shoulder dislocation and upon his return in January 2019,[11] he suffered a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury during an FA Cup third round match versus Brentford.[12] He made 14 appearances and scored one goal during the 2018–19 season.[9]

Baptiste returned to full training in early August 2019 and was a virtual ever-present for the club through the first half of the 2019–20 season.[13][14] He was heavily involved in the Us' run to the quarter finals of the EFL Cup, scoring in a 4–0 victory over Premier League club West Ham United in the third round and captaining the team versus Manchester City in the quarter-finals.[15] Baptiste made 27 appearances and scored four goals during the 2019–20 season,[14] before departing the club on 31 January 2020.[15] During two-and-a-half seasons as a professional at the Kassam Stadium, Baptiste made 43 appearances and scored five goals.[3]

Hampton & Richmond Borough (loan)

On 22 December 2017, Baptiste joined National League South club Hampton & Richmond Borough on a one-month loan,[8] which was later extended until the end of the 2017–18 season.[16] He made 23 appearances in a season which ended in defeat on penalties to Braintree Town in the National League South play-off Final.[17][18]

Brentford

On 31 January 2020, Baptiste transferred to Championship club Brentford for an undisclosed fee (reported to be £2.25 million, plus add-ons) and signed a ​4 1⁄2-year contract, with the option of a further year.[15][19][20] He made 13 appearances during what remained of the 2019–20 season,[14] which ended with defeat in the 2020 Championship play-off Final.[21] Baptiste began the 2020–21 season principally involved in Brentford's EFL Cup campaign,[22] before suffering a knee injury in training in October 2020, which required surgery.[23]

International career

Baptiste made three friendly appearances for Grenada during the 2017–18 season and scored one goal.[24] He was named in the squad for four 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League qualifying matches in September 2019,[25] but later declined the call up, in order to maintain his potential eligibility for England.[26]

Style of play

Baptiste is a box-to-box midfielder and has been described as "energetic, great on the ball and works very hard pressing".[15][27]

Personal life

Baptiste was born in Grenada and moved to England at the age of three.[2]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 27 January 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Oxford United 2017–18[7] League One 0000002[lower-alpha 1]020
2018–19[9] 9010311[lower-alpha 1]0141
2019–20[14] 17131413[lower-alpha 1]1274
Total 26 1 4 1 7 2 6 1 43 5
Hampton & Richmond Borough (loan) 2017–18[17] National League South 180——5[lower-alpha 2]0230
Brentford 2019–20[14] Championship 12 0 — — 1[lower-alpha 3] 0 13 0
2020–21[22] 1 0 0 0 3 0 — 4 0
Total 13 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 17 0
Career total 57141102121835
  1. Appearances in EFL Trophy
  2. 3 appearances in National League South play-offs, 2 appearances in Middlesex Senior Cup
  3. Appearance in Championship play-offs

International
As of match played 23 March 2018[24]
Grenada national team
YearAppsGoals
201721
2018 1 0
Total31

International goals
Scores and results list Grenada's goal tally first.[24]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.12 November 2017Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva, Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago1–02–2Friendly

References
  1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Oxford United" (PDF). English Football League. p. 52. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  2. Pritchard, David (24 October 2017). "Oxford United's Shandon Baptiste in line for 'dream' international debut tonight". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  3. Shandon Baptiste at Soccerbase
  4. "New Scholar Joins the U's". Oxford United F.C. 3 September 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  5. "Oxford United hand professional contracts to trio". Bicester Advertiser. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  6. "Three Scholars Sign". www.oufc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  7. "Games played by Shandon Baptiste in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  8. "Shandon Signs New Contract". www.oufc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  9. "Games played by Shandon Baptiste in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  10. "Shandon Baptiste Signs New Deal". www.oufc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  11. "Shandon Sidelined". www.oufc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  12. "Shandon Sidelined For Rest of Season". Oxford United F.C. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  13. "Baptiste Bounces Back". www.oufc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  14. "Games played by Shandon Baptiste in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  15. "Shandon Baptiste completes move to Brentford from Oxford". Brentford FC. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  16. "Baptiste Loan Extended". www.oufc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  17. "Shandon Baptiste". Hampton & Richmond Borough F.C. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  18. "Play-off final heartache as beavers lose on penalties". www.hamptonfc.net. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  19. Elek, George. "Is the sale of Baptiste and Fosu a better deal for Oxford..." The Athletic. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  20. "Oxford United to miss pay-out if Brentford win Championship play-off final". Witney Gazette. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  21. "Brentford 1 Fulham 2". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  22. "Games played by Shandon Baptiste in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  23. "Brentford's Baptiste confirms lengthy injury lay-off". West London Sport. 28 October 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  24. "Shandon Baptiste". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  25. "Shandon's Call Up". www.oufc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  26. Pritchard, David (8 October 2019). "Oxford United's Shandon Baptiste turns down Grenada to keep England options open". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  27. "Shandon Baptiste – Midfielder – First Team". Oxford United F.C. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
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