- George Baldock passed away at his home in Athens after drowning in his pool
- The right-back had been set to fly home the following day to see his family
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George Baldock told team-mates he was devastated that he would miss his son’s birthday just hours before his tragic death earlier this month.
The former Sheffield United star had moved to Greece to join Super League side Panathinaikos this summer after spending seven years at Bramall Lane.
However, on October 9 Baldock was found dead at his home in the Greek capital after drowning in his pool.
On the day of his untimely passing, Baldock had reported to the club’s training ground to undergo recovery work after sustaining a minor injury in their draw with Olympiacos three days earlier.
Baldock underwent some light training before being joined by team-mates Erik Palmer-Brown and Alexander Jeremejeff in the sauna.
The pair jokingly branded Baldock ‘Father of the year’ as his footballing commitments meant he was missing his son’s first birthday.
Palmer-Brown told The Athletic that Baldock admitted: ‘It’s a bit s*** I’m not there’, and had planned to fly back to the UK the following day after training to reunite with his family.
Baldock later returned home after getting a lift from team-mate Bart Schenkeveld, who was one of the last people to have any contact with the Greece international.
After being unable to contact Baldock, his fiancee Annabel contacted the landlord of the property he has been living in in Athens and asked him to attend.
The landlord was shocked to find Baldock unresponsive in his pool, with medics later attending the property to confirm that he had died from drowning.
The tragic news quickly spread to Baldock’s team-mates, including former Bristol City defender Hordur Magnusson.
‘I got a call from Magnusson asking if I knew his fiancee’s number, because I’d hung out with them,’ Palmer-Brown added.
‘I asked why, and he told me. I was like, ‘There’s no way. What do you mean, he drowned? What are you saying?’
‘I was lost, really confused. He (Magnusson) said he was going to the property now — he lived pretty close to Baldock. I said, ‘I’m going to call Baldock.’ So I phoned him. Then I called Magnusson again when he got there, and then I heard it in his voice.’
In the wake of news of Baldock’s death, several former team-mates, including Oli McBurnie, attempted to contact him and left messages hoping that the reports were not true.
The following day Panathinaikos training was cancelled but players and staff were asked to report to the training ground for a meeting with the club’s head coach, Diego Alonso and technical director Giannis Papadimitriou.
‘I remember Papadimitriou saying, “Good morning. As you know, George Baldock is no longer with us…” and that’s the last words I heard from him,’ Magnusson added.
‘I felt like there was a stone in my throat. I couldn’t hold my feelings. I stood up from my seat and I just went further and further away, next to the wall (at the back of the room), because at that time I couldn’t listen to anything that he was going to say about George.’
