Nathan Baxter (footballer)
English footballer (born 1998)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nathan Joseph Baxter (born 8 November 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL Championship club Watford.
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Baxter with Watford in 2025. | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nathan Joseph Baxter[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 8 November 1998[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Westminster, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[3] | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Watford | ||
| Number | 12 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Cray Wanderers | |||
| 2006–2016 | Chelsea | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2016–2023 | Chelsea | 0 | (0) |
| 2016–2017 | → Metropolitan Police (loan) | 14 | (0) |
| 2017 | → Solihull Moors (loan) | 17 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | → Woking (loan) | 42 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | → Yeovil Town (loan) | 34 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | → Ross County (loan) | 13 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | → Accrington Stanley (loan) | 16 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | → Hull City (loan) | 16 | (0) |
| 2022–2023 | → Hull City (loan) | 12 | (0) |
| 2023–2025 | Bolton Wanderers | 59 | (0) |
| 2025– | Watford | 7 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 20:14, 13 January 2026 (UTC) | |||
Club career
Chelsea
Born in Westminster,[2] Baxter began his career with Cray Wanderers.[4] He then joined Chelsea at the age of 8.[5] In the 2015–16 season he won the FA Youth Cup and the UEFA Youth League.[6]
In August 2016 he moved on loan to Isthmian League side Metropolitan Police on a short-term deal until January 2017.[7] He spent four months at the club, making 19 appearances, before returning to Chelsea in January 2017.[8]
He then joined National League side Solihull Moors on loan for the remainder of the 2016–17 campaign.[9] On 21 January 2017, he made his Solihull debut, keeping a clean sheet during their 0–0 draw with Boreham Wood.[10] He made three clean sheets in his first four games for the club.[11] Baxter went on to make 17 appearances in total for the club.[10]
On 21 June 2017, Baxter joined fellow National League side Woking on a season-long loan.[12] On the opening day of the campaign, Baxter went on to make his Woking debut as they recorded a 2–1 home victory over Gateshead.[10] Baxter went on to make 48 appearances in total for the club.[10] During the 2017–18 season, Baxter played more minutes (4320) than any other Chelsea loanee.[4]
On 26 June 2018, Baxter agreed to join League Two side Yeovil Town on a season-long loan.[13] Baxter made his Football League debut in their opening day of the season, in a 1–0 away defeat against Bury.[3] At Yeovil, he did not concede a goal for 10 hours 12 minutes, and set a club record after keeping 6 consecutive clean sheets in all competitions.[4]
As of 5 November 2018, he was the "only teenage goalkeeper currently in English football's professional ranks to have racked up over 100 appearances in the senior game".[4]
Baxter made 38 appearances for Yeovil during his season with the club, and won 5 awards at the club's end of season awards, all in the 'Player of the Season' and 'Young Player of the Season' categories.[14]
On 19 June 2019, Baxter joined Scottish Premiership side Ross County on a season long loan.[15] He suffered a shoulder injury early in the season before returning to first-team action, and went on to play in 14 games in a row.[16]
On 9 October 2020, Baxter joined Accrington Stanley on loan.[17][18]
On 25 June 2021, he moved on loan to Hull City for the season.[19] Baxter made his league debut on 6 November 2021, in a 2–0 victory over Barnsley at Oakwell and was later selected in the Championship's team of the week following an impressing showing on his first league start.[20] He went on to make 18 appearances for the club,[21] including 7 clean sheets in his 16 league matches and having the highest save percentage in the Championship at 79.5 percent.[22]
On 4 July 2022, Baxter returned to Hull City for a second season-long loan spell.[23][24]
Bolton Wanderers
On 16 June 2023, Chelsea announced that Baxter would leave the club when his contract expired at the end of June.[25] On 19 June 2023, Bolton Wanderers announced the signing of Baxter on a two-year contract from 1 July, being his first permanent move after seven years of loan spells.[26][27] It was reported that he turned down a move to Maccabi Haifa, preferring to sign for Bolton.[28] On 7 May 2025, the club confirmed that Baxter would leave at the end of his contract.[29]
Watford
On 2 June 2025, Baxter agreed to join Championship side Watford on a two-year contract upon the expiration of his contract with Bolton Wanderers.[30]
Career statistics
- As of mach played 10 January 2026
| Club | Season | League | National Cup[a] | League Cup[b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Chelsea | 2016–17[31] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017–18[32] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2018–19[3] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2019–20[33] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2020–21[34] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2021–22[21] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2022–23[35] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Metropolitan Police (loan) | 2016–17[8] | Isthmian League | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 3[c] | 0 | 19 | 0 | |
| Solihull Moors (loan) | 2016–17[10] | National League | 17 | 0 | — | — | — | 17 | 0 | |||
| Woking (loan) | 2017–18[10] | National League | 42 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 48 | 0 | |
| Yeovil Town (loan) | 2018–19[3] | League Two | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[d] | 0 | 38 | 0 |
| Ross County (loan) | 2019–20[33] | Scottish Premiership | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | |
| Accrington Stanley (loan) | 2020–21[34] | League One | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[d] | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| Hull City (loan) | 2021–22[21] | Championship | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| Hull City (loan) | 2022–23[35] | Championship | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| Bolton Wanderers | 2023–24[36] | League One | 33 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5[e] | 0 | 43 | 0 |
| 2024–25[37] | League One | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[d] | 0 | 29 | 0 | |
| Total | 59 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 72 | 0 | ||
| Watford | 2025–26[38] | Championship | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Career total | 230 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 265 | 0 | ||
- Includes FA Cup and Scottish Cup
- Includes EFL Cup and Scottish League Cup
- Two appearances in Alan Turvey Trophy, one in FA Trophy
- Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
- Two appearances in EFL Trophy, three appearances in League One play-offs
Personal life
Baxter was born in London to parents of Jewish descent[39] and has stated that Petr Čech was his inspiration.[4] In December 2025, Baxter spoke about his Jewish identity publicly for the first time, when he was a guest speaker at one of the longest-running Hanukkah events in English football, hosted by Watford FC and the Jewish Hornets supporters' group.[40]
Honours
Chelsea Youth
