How Panathinaikos honoured George Baldock on emotional night in Athens

On quieter nights, when the traffic slowed and the wind remained low, George Baldock would have heard the lapping of the sea from his home on Glyfada’s waterfront. His apartment looked out onto the golden sands of the beaches south of Athens, and there must have been times in recent months when he felt like he had stepped into a different world.

After seven years at Sheffield United, Baldock’s move to Panathinaikos this summer represented a bold leap into a new country and a new league. It was on the picturesque Glyfada coast that he found a home, exchanging rainy days in Sheffield for the glamorous “Beverly Hills of Greece”, and it was here that he died earlier this month, at the age of 31.

More than two weeks have passed since his death, and life in Glyfada goes on. This is a community of luxury homes and private gates, of tennis courts and Pilates studios, and outside the property where Baldock lived there is no longer any sign of the terrible event that took place there on October 9.

At his club, though, the mental and emotional scars will take a long time to heal – if they ever heal at all. Baldock was a Panathinaikos player for only a few months but he evidently made his mark in that time. On Thursday night, when they hosted Chelsea in the Uefa Conference League, the club produced the most moving of tributes.

The soundtrack to it was a stirring live rendition of David Bowie’s Starman by a rock band before kick-off. That was the song Sheffield fans repurposed for Baldock during his time at Bramall Lane, and for this game Panathinaikos created posters using the lyrics and Baldock’s squad number, 32.

The number 32 was also on official match pennants, on a starry background, and on huge flags that surrounded the pitch. The home team warmed up with the number on their shirts, while Chelsea’s players held up a Baldock kit before kick-off. When the band reached the chorus of Starman, every supporter in the crowd produced a print-out of the number 32. A Chelsea employee had also travelled to Athens with an MK Dons shirt featuring Baldock’s name that will remain in Baldock’s locker at Panathinaikos’s training ground. No detail had been missed.

Earlier in the week, Panathinaikos manager Diego Alonso dedicated this entire season to the “blessed memory” of Baldock. Facundo Pellistri, the Uruguayan winger, vowed that the players would do everything to win the Greek championship for him. “George is looking at us from the skies,” he said.

In Greece and England, the shock and pain of Baldock’s death remains gut-wrenchingly raw. On the night of his death, many of his Panathinaikos team-mates gathered outside his apartment, first in disbelief and then in grief. Others, including former colleagues from England, tried to call Baldock in desperate hope that the rumours were not true. Many will be present at his UK funeral next week.

Details of his death remain unclear

The precise details of his death remain unclear and might not become known for some time, if ever. What is certain is that he drowned in the pool at his home, the day before he was due to fly back to England to celebrate his son’s first birthday. “We will forever cherish the special memories we have of you and you will continue to live on in your beautiful son,” his family said in a statement following his death.

It is clear that Baldock, born and raised in England, was regarded as one of their own in Greece, rather than as a foreigner. Earlier this week, it was reported in the local media that the full-back – who played international football for Greece after qualifying through his grandmother – had in September applied for Greek citizenship for his son. That request has been granted.

One can only hope that the outpouring of love, at home and in Greece, has provided some comfort and support for Baldock’s family. The tributes have revealed much about a special and caring character, who once bought a defibrillator for a young Sheffield United fan who had been diagnosed with a faulty heart valve.

At the Athens Olympics Stadium on Thursday, kick-off in the match against Chelsea eventually brought an inevitable shift in focus away from the tribute to Baldock. Football never stops, after all, and this was a big game against illustrious opposition. But under a cloudless sky, with black-and-green banners hanging from the stands, it had been a truly powerful and poignant way to say goodbye.