Jim Baxter

Monument commemorating Jim Baxter in his hometown of Hill of Beath, Scotland

James Curran "Jim" Baxter ( born September 29, 1939 in Hill of Beath, Fife, Scotland, † April 14, 2001 in Glasgow, Scotland) was a Scottish football player while in the 1960s, very successful for the Glasgow Rangers active. The tricky left midfielder also appeared several times for the Scottish national team as a key actor in prestigious duels against the arch-enemy of England in appearance. Due to its often eccentric lifestyle he resembled in many respects players like George Best and Jimmy Greaves.

Sports career

Getting Started

Born in Fife, Baxter played in his youth for a team with the name " Crossgates Primrose ", henceforth worked in a mine and in 1957 started his footballing career when he joined on a part time basis to Raith Rovers. There he made early attention to itself by its elegant style of play and came a year later to his first international match for the Scottish U- 21 team against the selection of Wales.

Climb to the top players

For the then Scottish record transfer fee of 17,500 British pounds of 20 -year-old Baxter 1960 joined the Glasgow Rangers, where he had already appended since early childhood. He made his debut on 13 August of the year in the League Cup against Partick Thistle and after championship debut in the duel with the same opponents, he scored on 5 November in a 3-1 win against FC Clyde his first goal. Before the local rivals Celtic ansetzte from 1966 to a nine-year dominance as a serial winner of the Scottish Cup, Baxter had put the Rangers in the early 1960s, the most successful Scottish football team. Baxter won in 1961, 1963 and 1964, three league titles, as many trophies in Scottish FA Cup (1962, 1963 and 1964) and even four League Cup editions in the years 1960, 1961, 1963 and 1964. His first League Cup success, he turned in the early phase the 1960/61 season safely with a 2-0 win against FC Kilmarnock in October and reached after winning his first championship even the final of the inaugural European Cup Winners' Cup. There, the newly crowned Scottish champions defeated in home and away in the second leg, each with 0:2 and 1:2 against Fiorentina.

Baxter, who was called " Slim Jim ", evolved increasingly becoming a crucial player in the Rangers, beaming through his technical proficiency great confidence in the game design and the game of control. This was also the way to the Scottish National inevitable and after his debut in a match of the British Home Championship against Northern Ireland, he scored 1963 - almost two and a half years later - two goals in a 2-1 win over England at Wembley - also during a game of British Home Championship. Noteworthy was the fact that the Scottish team had to quit because Eric Caldow had broken early in the game the leg and replacements at this time had not yet permitted the encounter with ten players. Far greater resonance but should cause even Baxter's performance in 1967 against England. Scotland defeated the reigning world champion, who had won the title only nine months earlier, at the same place with 3-2 and it was mainly the " left-footed " Baxter, the very opposite Alan Ball put his technical superiority that day on public display and the enemy was trying to mock with cabinet pieces. While this underlined his reputation, often to place an arrogant way of playing on the day, but also led to widespread recognition in the camp of the Scottish followers, who jokingly titled after the victory as "World Champion". Baxter came to a total of 34 international appearances for Scotland during his career.

His high status in world football at this time can also be seen in three nominations for special games. On 23 October 1963 he came off the bench for the second half of the Czechoslovak Vice World Champion Josef Masopust and played at Wembley as the left runner together with the Denis Law used on the right side in a World XI against the England team on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Football Association " Football Association " (FA) - the game ended 2-1 for the selection of England. More than half a year later, he ran on May 20, 1964 in Copenhagen at the section of a European selection against the best players in Scandinavia - The occasion was now the 75 -year-old Jubliläum the Danish Football Association " Dansk Boldspil Union " (DBU ) - and won 4-2. On April 28, 1965, he was also invited to the farewell match of Stanley Matthews to Stoke-on -Trent and acted in a British selection against the "Rest of Europe" ( the islanders lost 4:6 ).

Early End of career

His last game for the time being graduated from Baxter for the Rangers in April 1965, before he changed to the English first division club FC Sunderland for 72,000 pounds. There, however, he only played in the lower half of the league table and was shown in his Glasgow services not usually repeat. There were increasing, however, his activities off the field, which was reflected in frequent and often excessive alcohol consumption and its reputation as a " womanizer " strengthened at this time. In December 1967, Baxter left the Roker Park for £ 100,000 in the direction of the club Nottingham Forest. He could just as little care for the usual playful accents there though, so he returned just 18 months later in the Ibrox Park. And an associated " training laziness " - - As with many other highly talented players of his generation, the stimuli outside of football had Baxter's sporting decline accelerated.

Even on his earlier success place to let the time no longer turn back and already the 3-2 win against FC Aberdeen should be Baxter's last game for the club in December of 1969. A short time later, he announced his retirement from football after a total of 254 games and 24 goals for Rangers.

Life after football

Baxter operation times its own bar and be continuing penchant for alcohol - along with a strong passion for gambling - led Baxter more and more health problems. After two life-saving liver transplant in 1994, he promised to break away from alcohol. His self-deprecating humor, which was partly responsible for its widespread popularity, however, he had not lost and joked at his admission nor with the statement " With my luck, I get just the liver of George Best ". Also famous was his response to a question about whether the now very high player salaries would have had an impact on his life in professional football by remarking: "Sure. I would have left instead of just 100 50,000 pounds at the bookies per week. " The fight against alcohol but he never ultimately won and was later often seen in restaurants of Glasgow.

On April 14, 2001 Baxter lost a long battle with pancreatic cancer and six days later he was buried in Glasgow with great sympathy of many British football followers and companions.

Find out more

  • In a total of 18 duels against Celtic Glasgow, where Jim Baxter was involved, the Rangers lost only two games. Nevertheless, Baxter also enjoyed among supporters of local rivals a high estate, which recently manifested itself in public expressions of sympathy after his death.
  • The later masters Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson described his former teammates as the Rangers best player of all time.

Achievements

  • Scottish champion: 1961, 1963, 1964
  • Scottish FA Cup winners: 1962, 1963, 1964
  • Scottish League Cup Winners: 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964

References and footnotes

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