| Karl Bayliss - Striker |
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| Karl Bayliss could easily be recognised as a modern day legend in the colours of Gloucester City AFC. |
| His playing days at this level are now over but it was back in March 1992 away at Burton Albion when the local lad first pulled on a Tigers shirt in anger after Brian Godfrey had snapped him up from Stroud FC. Although he'd already featured for a handful of clubs before making Meadow Park his home. |
| Karl's first strike was at home to Atherstone United as he grabbed three goals in six games at the tail end of the campaign to set a standard that he'd follow pretty much every year during his time with the Tigers. |
| As City struggled following the Les Alderman boom or bust year Baylo made the number nine shirt his own grabbing twenty odd goals in successive seasons whislt sharing forward partnerships with the likes of Jason Eaton, Liam Dixon, Shaun Penny and Tony Cook. |
| Things changed for Karl when John Murphy took over the Meadow Park hot seat as the former Trowbridge boss brought in Mark Hallam as his target man. Suddenly the fans favourite found himself out of favour and he was loaned out to Forest Green Rovers before making the move permanent. |
| The goals again flowed as he helped the club from the Lawn begin their bewildering journey to the Conference but he became surplus to requirements once they'd reached the Southern League Premier and found himself offloaded to South Wales with Newport AFC. |
| Two seasons and another couple of twenty something goal hauls proved that he was a force to be reckoned with at Midland Division level but he wasn't really given the opportunity to shine at Premier Division level with the Spytty Park club. |
| With City now staring relegation in the face Karl was loaned back to the Tigers from the Welsh club but his four goals in eleven games wasn't enough to help Tommy Callinan's men avoid the drop. |
| Karl made the permanent move back to his hometown club in the closed season and found himself as one of a three strikers vying for two places with Jimmy Cox and Matt Rawlins. He often found himself on the bench before Rawlins debunked to Chippenham and went on to enjoy a near twenty goal haul. |
| However he switched to Clevedon Town during the summer leaving new boss Chris Burns with just half a dozen registered players and Baylo continued to score at the Hand Stadium before choosing to return to Meadow Park halfway through the campaign citing travelling difficulties. |
| Now forging a partnership with Andy Hoskins the chances of him reaching the one hundred goal mark for City looked optimistic but the form of his strike partner and the re-signing of Cox from Weston Super Mare plus the loss of his scoring touch put paid to his ambitions. |
| The 2002/03 season saw Karl take until November to notch his first goal despite being a regular starter and he finished the campaign with just five goals. It was apparent that he wasn't going to reach his milestone as the following season saw him score just the one. |
| Karl played his last game for City on doctors orders against Solihull Borough on September 25th 2004, a game which ended in a 0-1 defeat. It's a shame that he couldn't reach his century but his impressive tally will mean that he'll always be fondly remembered at Meadow Park. |
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Previous Clubs:
Cheltenham Town, Forest Green Rovers, Sharpness, Salisbury City, Malvern Town, Tamworth, Stroud, Gloucester City, Cirencester Town (loan), Weston-super-Mare (loan), Forest Green Rovers, Newport County, Gloucester City, Clevedon Town, Gloucester City |
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Appearances & Goals: (upto & including 30/04/05)
| Season |
Apps |
Subs |
Goals |
| 1991/92 |
6 |
- |
3 |
| 1992/93 |
49 |
- |
25 |
| 1993/94 |
44 |
2 |
21 |
| 1994/95 |
22 |
9 |
7 |
| 1999/00 |
11 |
- |
4 |
| 2000/01 |
43 |
5 |
19 |
| 2001/02 |
15 |
- |
7 |
| 2002/03 |
20 |
13 |
5 |
| 2003/04 |
3 |
10 |
1 |
| 2004/05 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
| Total |
217 |
43 |
93 |
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Appearances & Goals: (upto & including 30/04/05)
| Season |
Apps |
Subs |
Goals |
| 1991/92 |
6 |
- |
3 |
| 1992/93 |
- |
- |
- |
| 1993/94 |
- |
- |
- |
| 1994/95 |
- |
- |
- |
| 1999/00 |
- |
- |
- |
| 2000/01 |
36 |
5 |
19 |
| 2001/02 |
- |
- |
- |
| 2002/03 |
- |
- |
- |
| 2003/04 |
- |
- |
- |
| 2004/05 |
- |
- |
- |
| Total |
- |
- |
- |
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| Image Gallery: (click to view full size pics) |
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