Baker Park national football team

The Baker Park national football team is the national team representing Commonwealth of Baker Park in international football competition. Is is governed by the Football Association of the Commonwealth (FAC).

Following World Cup 86, former NT managers Trevor Richmond and Pamela Scott were inducted into the World Cup Hall of Fame as Baker Park's first two nominees for their contributions to the success of the NT during the NSWC era.

Modern Day
The BPNT has amassed an all-time record of 348 wins, 218 defeats and 110 ties in 676 matches; since joining the World Cup Council (WCC), their record is 169 wins, 56 defeats and 41 ties in 266 matches. Currently, Baker Park is the only nation to have qualified successfully for the Finals in every World Cup tournament they've entered.

Competitions
The senior team made its debut in the 67th Baptism of Fire, hosted in Qasden & Banija, during the World Cup 80 cycle, progressing to the Final, where they lost to Beepee 4-3

Prior to the BOF, the FAC entered the 42nd DiBradini Cup, the Under-21 World Championships, with an all-male team; reaching the quarterfinals, U21 coach Liam Sullivan noted the success of female and mixed gender teams in the tournament, and recommended a trial of the concept at the next competition on the calendar, the Under 18 Sporting World Cup, to be held in Abanhfleft. The squad was the first fielded by the Commonwealth consisting of both men and women in the same team, and surprised the pundits by defeating the hosts 5-2 to win the championship. From that point, mixed gender national teams became the policy of the governing body for all age group levels.

The FAC has also sent squads to participate in several invitational tournaments, notably the Mike Sarzo Memorial Cup in Sarzonia, the Twicetagria Invitational and the Wonder Cup 1 & 2; in addition, they have hosted three editions of it's own Baker Park Open Cup, developed as an opportunity for nations to send single gender teams, mixed gender teams, or other squads that would not necessarily comprise a national side in a major tournament.

On two occasions the nation has sent sides to the Summer Olympic Games; for the XIII Olympiad, an Under-23 men's team competed, and in the XIV Games, a women's U23 team represented Baker Park.

History
The Commonwealth National Team played it's first official match in 1934, a 9-0 defeat. There were no other fixtures scheduled until 1948; over the next five years, BP went winless in 14 straight contests, losing 10 and drawing four. October 1952 saw the team earn their first ever victory, followed in March 1953 by a second win in the first international match played in the Commonwealth, at Sportsmen's Park in Belle Haven. This sparked a run where the team won six and drew three over the next 10 fixtures from 1953-56, followed by another lean period where they drew twice and won just three time in a 12 match span to the end of 1959.

Frank Neilson became manager for 1960 and had a winning record in 10 matches in charge (5-4-1). He was replace by Henry Swanton ahead of the national team's 50th match, another home win at Sportsmen's Park, which left the record at 17 wins, 23 losses and 10 ties.

Colin Riordan was name manager in 1970 and in seven years amassed a record of 19-18-7, which made him the winningest and longest serving NT boss. Another period of poor results followed, capped off by an 11 match winless run ending in 1981.

1980's and "Mr Charlie"
George Charleston took over in 1981 ahead of the team's 179th match, a 4-0 win followed in early 1982 by a 5-1 victory. The next seven years saw the most successful period in Baker Park soccer history, as the team won 30 and drew 10 in a 50 match span.