Jim Baxter

Baxter was born in Hill of Beath, Fife, on 29 September 1939 and was educated and started his career there. After leaving school he spent eight months as an apprentice cabinet maker, and then worked as a coal miner.[7]

His former headmaster James Carmichael took an interest in ex-pupils and encouraged Baxter to join local football team Halbeath Juveniles instead of one of the glamour clubs.[8] Baxter went on to play for the Fife junior team, Crossgates Primrose.[7] He undertook National Service with the Black Watch from 1961 to 1963.[9]

In the 1960s Baxter gained 34 caps as a member of strong Scottish teams, which included Billy McNeill, Pat Crerand,[12] John White, Dave Mackay, Denis Law[8] and John Greig.[19] In his international appearances he scored three goals, and Scotland won 21, drew 3 and lost 10 of these matches.[20] He made his international debut in November 1960, when Scotland beat Northern Ireland.[7][20] In 1961 Scotland had lost 9–3 to England at Wembley, and April 1962 Baxter and Crerand played brilliantly, helping Scotland to gain some revenge with a 2–0 win.[8][21]

According to many commentators, his greatest performances were against England in 1963 and 1967.[7][11][12] Baxter regarded his performance in 1963 as the better of the two.[22] In the 1963 game Scotland were reduced to 10 men when their left back Eric Caldow's leg was broken in a tackle by Bobby Smith – substitutions were not allowed at that time.[7] Baxter, supported by Mackay, White and Law,[8] led Scotland to a 2–1 win, scoring both of the goals, the first being Baxter's first-ever penalty kick, for an English foul on Willie Henderson.[23] Bobby Moore thought this was the best team Scotland ever fielded.[24]

The following year Scotland, again inspired by Baxter and Law, beat England 1–0, and only poor finishing prevented them from scoring a bigger win. In 1966, sixteen months after his leg had been broken, Baxter was not able to inspire his teammates, and Scotland lost 4–3 to England.[8]

In the 1967 British Home Championship, Baxter produced a dominating but controversial performance for Scotland, tantalising England, who had won the World Cup in 1966,[8] by playing "keepie uppie" (ball juggling) while waiting for teammates to get into good positions.[25] Some commentators accepted that humiliating the opposition was a valid objective, while others regarded it as childish and thought Scotland should have won a more convincing victory than the actual 3–2 scoreline.[26][27] Teammate Denis Law expressed opinions on both sides of this debate, saying that Baxter was "the best player on the park" and the main reason for the Scots' victory,[13] but complaining that Baxter's lack of urgency had prevented Scotland from thoroughly avenging the 9–3 defeat in April 1961.[8][26] Alex Ferguson said Baxter's performance "could have been set to music".[8] In this game Baxter also conspired with Billy Bremner against Alan Ball, sending Bremner a "50-50" pass, which allowed Bremner to "hit Ball like a train" when Ball contested possession.[7] As Scotland were the first team to beat England after the 1966 FIFA World Cup, the Tartan Army proclaimed themselves "unofficial world champions".[28]

In October 1963, which may have been Baxter's best year overall, he played for the "Rest of the world" in a match against England to celebrate the centenary of The Football Association.[7] He came on to the field in the second half, and his performance won the admiration of Ferenc Puskás.[16] However England won the match 2–1.[29]

Scotland did not qualify for the final stage of the FIFA World Cup during Baxter's playing career. Scottish public opinion at the time blamed lack of commitment by the "Anglos", Scottish-born players who spent little or none of their playing careers in Scotland.[30] However at the time beating England was more important to the Scots.[24][31] In 1960–61, when Baxter played in all the qualifying matches for the 1962 World Cup, they finished first equal in their qualifying group but lost the play-off against Czechoslovakia,[20] who were runners-up to Brazil in the Final.[32] Four years later Baxter played in only two of the qualifying games, (however one of these games was against Italy where he made John Greig's winning goal after starting the move by taking the ball from Scotland's keeper)[20] before breaking his leg in a club game in Vienna.[8] Scotland finished second in their qualifying group, behind Italy.[33] In 1968–69 he was not selected to play in any of the qualifiers for the 1970 World Cup.[20]

After moving to Rangers, Baxter became a notorious womaniser. In his words, "One day, I was a Raith Rovers player who couldnae pull the birds at the Cowdenbeath Palais. The next day I was in Glasgow and the girls were throwing themselves at me. It was certainly a change and I wasn't letting it go by." However, in 1965 he married Jean Ferguson, a hairdresser, and the couple brought up two sons Alan and Steven. His marriage to Jean broke down in 1981 and the two divorced. Jean married golfer William McCondichie three years later.[12] In 1983 Baxter formed a relationship with Norma Morton, and the couple remained together until his death in 2001.[34]

Baxter was free of the sectarianism that marked the rivalry between Glasgow's two leading teams. His close friends included the Celtic players Billy McNeill, Pat Crerand and Mike Jackson, in defiance of the unwritten rule that rivals did not associate.[8][35]

Like some other British football stars of the late 20th century, Baxter drank to excess,[12][36] and at one point was said to be consuming three bottles of Bacardi a day.[12] Scotland teammate Dave Mackay unsuccessfully advised him to train harder and live more sensibly.[7] Baxter often got falling-down drunk the night before a match, but this did not seem to hamper his play, and team managers took little notice of his drinking.[17] After retiring from football Baxter became a pub licensee, an unsuitable career for a problem drinker.[36] At the age of 55 he needed two liver transplants in four days,[7][36] and promised to quit drinking.[12]

His other lifelong addiction was gambling, at which he lost £500,000 by his own estimate and £250,000 by third-party estimates.[7][12] Later in his life, when asked if earning the huge incomes of footballers in later decades would have made a difference, he replied, "Aye, I would have gambled £50,000 a week on the horses instead of £100."[37]

In February 2001, Baxter was diagnosed as suffering from cancer of the pancreas, and he died at his home on Glasgow's South Side on 14 April 2001, with his partner Norma and his sons Alan and Steven at his bedside.[12] His funeral was held in Glasgow Cathedral, where a reading was given by Gordon Brown, a long-time fan of Raith Rovers F.C., where Baxter began his career.[34]

Baxter is generally regarded as one of Scotland's greatest ever players.[17] He was noted for accurate passes, for sending opponents the wrong way with a swivel of his hips, and for inspiring teammates with his confident approach.[34] He attracted attention by his stylish play, controlling the game with "unhurried artistry". He refused to conform with the "efficient" style that dominated British football or the energetic, physical style that was typical of Rangers at the time.[25] Indeed, although Rangers insisted that players tuck their shirts completely into their shorts, Baxter always let part of his dangle over his left hip.[14] He described his approach to playing football as "treating the ball like a woman. Give it a cuddle, caress it a wee bit, take your time, and you'll get the required response".[38]

Baxter played most of his best football in his early twenties, before the leg fracture against Rapid Vienna in December 1964 and the start of his heavy drinking that made his nickname "Slim Jim" less appropriate.[8][39] He was also noted as a joker on the pitch.[8] After the replay of the Scottish Cup Final against Celtic in 1963 he stuffed the match ball up his shirt and later gave it to a new member of the team. The SFA insisted that the ball should be returned, and Rangers sent them a ball, but possibly not the match ball.[40] Most famously, during Scotland's 3–2 win over England in 1967, he taunted his opponents by playing "keepie uppie" during the game.[25]

Statue in Baxter's honour in his home town, Hill of Beath in Fife – with the ball on his famous left foot

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson described Baxter as "arguably the best player to play in Scottish football"[13] and "the greatest player I ever played with ... He had touch, balance, vision and just this wonderful aura ..." Rangers manager Willie Waddell said, "Jim was the finest left half ever produced by Rangers." Jimmy Johnstone, who played for Rangers' great rivals Celtic, said shortly after Baxter's death, "He was a great man and a genius on the ball."[12] Allegedly Pelé once said that Baxter should have been a Brazilian.[17] After Baxter's performance in the 1963 "rest of the world" vs England match, Ferenc Puskás asked, "Where has this fellow been hiding?"[16] Shortly before his own death, George Best named Baxter as one of the best eleven players he had played with or against in an interview with FourFourTwo magazine.[41]

Baxter is a member of the Rangers supporters' Hall of Fame,[14] and one of the first 50 added to the Scottish Sporting Hall of Fame when it was created in 2002.[42][43] In 2004, he was also inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame.[44] In the December 1999 issue of World Soccer magazine he was voted by a readers' poll into a list of the 100 greatest players of the 20th century.[45]

The Tartan Army unsuccessfully attempted to get the new Wembley Stadium footbridge named after him,[46][47] and on 24 February 2005 Scottish National Party MP Pete Wishart presented an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons supporting this campaign.[48][49]

In 2003, a statue of Baxter was erected in his birthplace, Hill of Beath in Fife, after a campaign that raised £80,000.[17][37] Fellow footballer and midfielder Scott Brown, who would become Scotland captain in the 2010s, was also raised in the village and attended the same school, with the Baxter statue across the street from his childhood home,[50] although Brown chose to sign for Celtic rather than Rangers.[51]

• List of Scotland national football team captains

• Jim Baxter at the Scottish Football Association
• Jim Baxter's Funeral Images @ Glasgow Guide
• Jim Baxter at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database