'Rest easy brother' - Former Sheffield United loan star James McAtee pays touching tribute to George Baldock
Sheffield United are in mourning after news of their former defender’s death.
James McAtee became the latest former teammate of George Baldock’s to pay an emotional tribute to the defender, who was found dead earlier this week.
Former Sheffield United man Baldock was found in the pool of his apartment in Greece on Wednesday, as reported by national media, having left the Blades to join Panathinaikos in the summer. News of his passing has rocked the football world and a mountain of floral tributes have since been laid outside Bramall Lane.
Manchester City midfielder McAtee spent two seasons on loan at United, where he played alongside Baldock and enjoyed winning promotion to the Premier League alongside his Blades teammate. And the 21-year-old sent a short but sweet message after twice scoring for England under-21s last night.
England beat Ukraine under-21s 2-1 at Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium, with McAtee on target in the 88th and 92nd minutes. The attacking midfielder curled in a wonderful free-kick before pouncing on a loose ball and after both efforts, revealed a message under his shirt that read: “GB 2 REST EASY BROTHER X”.
After the game, McAtee also shared a post on Instagram which read: “The boy has looked after me tonight. Two special goals for a special person, I know he would have loved that, all for him and his family and our family back in Sheffield.”
McAtee is the latest to pay tribute from the football world, with teammates and opponents grieving. Ahead of England’s Nations League defeat against Baldock’s Greek national team on Thursday, there was a minute’s applause and both teams wore black armbands.
On Friday, United boss Chris Wilder gave an emotional interview with the club’s media team in which he described how much the full-back meant to his teammates and supporters.
“George just epitomised everything on the pitch and off the pitch,” Wilder said. “He was a humble person off of it. Listen, we had rows, we had bust ups, we had words. I think you would expect that between the two personalities that we're talking about, but we're all driving it forward and after the same outcome and after the same goal in everything that we did Monday to Friday.
“I'm a massive one in terms of standards, and how even training should look and he was ultra competitive, and as were the group. And he drove that. He drove that with the other boys. Just even thinking about it now, a family's lost a son. Players have lost a brother. Those boys that went to battle with George, and he stood up to every challenge. Just over the last, sort of, say, 24 hours, remember the battles that he had on the pitch.”