Nathan Baxter (footballer)

Nathan Baxter
Baxter with Watford in 2025.
Personal information
Full name Nathan Joseph Baxter[1]
Date of birth (1998-11-08) 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)

Nathan Joseph Baxter (born 8 November 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL Championship club Watford.

Club career

Chelsea

Baxter playing for Solihull Moors in 2017.

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
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
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
  1. ^ Includes FA Cup and Scottish Cup
  2. ^ Includes EFL Cup and Scottish League Cup
  3. ^ Two appearances in Alan Turvey Trophy, one in FA Trophy
  4. ^ a b c Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
  5. ^ 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

References

  1. ^ "List of players under written contract registered between 01/07/2017 and 31/07/2017" (PDF). The Football Association. p. 63. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Profile". 11v11. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d "Games played by Nathan Baxter in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e Kinsella, Nizaar (5 November 2018). "Meet Nathan Baxter: The record-breaking Petr Cech fan aiming to make it at Chelsea". Goal.com. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  5. ^ "Who are Chelsea's FA Youth Cup winning stars?". The Telegraph. 28 April 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  6. ^ "Profile". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  7. ^ "Chelsea keeper makes Met Police loan move". Non League Daily. 31 August 2016. Archived from the original on 7 August 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Profile". Metropolitan Police F.C. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Nathan Baxter: Chelsea goalkeeper joins Solihull Moors on loan". BBC Sport. 16 January 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Nathan Baxter at Soccerway. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  11. ^ Stoner, Colin (13 February 2017). "How Chelsea goalkeeper Nathan Baxter is saving his best for Solihull Moors". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  12. ^ "Nathan Baxter and Joe Ward: Chelsea goalkeeper and ex-Brighton winger join Woking". BBC Sport. 21 June 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  13. ^ "Chelsea's Nathan Baxter joins Yeovil Town on season-long loan". BBC Sport. 26 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  14. ^ "NEWS | Baxter claims awards clean sweep". www.ytfc.net. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  15. ^ "County sign Chelsea goalkeeper on season-long loan". Press and Journal. 19 June 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  16. ^ "Steps Up: Nathan Baxter | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club". Chelsea F.C.
  17. ^ "SIGNING: Baxter joins on loan". www.accringtonstanley.co.uk.
  18. ^ "Accrington sign Nottingham & Baxter". BBC Sport.
  19. ^ "Hull sign Chelsea keeper Baxter on loan". BBC Sport. 25 June 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  20. ^ "Chelsea loanee hailed after making impressive Hull City league debut". Hull Daily Mail. 18 November 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  21. ^ a b c "Games played by Nathan Baxter in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  22. ^ Kinsella, Nizaar (11 May 2022). "Baxter won't give up on Chelsea No.1 dream after successful Hull City loan spell". goal.com. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  23. ^ "Baxter rejoins Hull City". Hull City A.F.C. 4 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  24. ^ "Hull re-sign keeper Baxter on loan from Chelsea". BBC Sport. 4 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  25. ^ "Retained list and goodbye to Bakayoko". www.chelseafc.com. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  26. ^ "Bolton Wanderers sign Chelsea goalkeeper Nathan Baxter". 19 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  27. ^ "Bolton sign ex-Chelsea goalkeeper Baxter". BBC Sport. 19 June 2023.
  28. ^ The Bolton News: "Bolton Wanderers sign Chelsea goalkeeper Nathan Baxter "
  29. ^ "Farewell to Rico and Geth". bwfc.co.uk. 7 May 2025.
  30. ^ "Official: Baxter Joins Hornets". www.watfordfc.com. 2 June 2025. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
  31. ^ "Games played by Nathan Baxter in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  32. ^ "Games played by Nathan Baxter in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  33. ^ a b "Games played by Nathan Baxter in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  34. ^ a b "Games played by Nathan Baxter in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  35. ^ a b "Games played by Nathan Baxter in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  36. ^ "Games played by Nathan Baxter in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  37. ^ "Games played by Nathan Baxter in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  38. ^ "Games played by Nathan Baxter in 2025/2026". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
  39. ^ Kinsella, Nizaar (8 June 2023). "Chelsea goalkeeper Nathan Baxter to leave on free as Maccabi Haifa submit offers". Yahoo!. Evening Standard. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  40. ^ Sinclair, Annabel (23 December 2025). "Watford FC Chanukah event as goalkeeper reveals Jewish identity publicly". Jewish News. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
  41. ^ "Chelsea win the FA Youth Cup for third successive season". The Football Association. 27 April 2016. Archived from the original on 27 June 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  42. ^ "Paris 1–2 Chelsea: Line-ups". UEFA. Archived from the original on 10 October 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nathan Baxter.
  • Profile at the Bolton Wanderers F.C. website
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