Jim Baxter

Jim Baxter

Baxter during his time at Nottingham Forest
Personal information
Full name	James Curran Baxter
Date of birth	(1939-09-29)29 September 1939
Place of birth	Hill of Beath, Scotland
Date of death	14 April 2001(2001-04-14) (aged 61)
Place of death	Glasgow, Scotland
Playing position	Left-half
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1957–1960	Raith Rovers	62	(3)
1960–1965	Rangers	136	(18)
1965–1967	Sunderland	87	(10)
1967	→ Vancouver Royal Canadians (loan)	12	(2)
1967–1969	Nottingham Forest	48	(3)
1969–1970	Rangers	14	(1)
Total		359	(37)
National team
1960–1967	Scotland	34	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

James Curran Baxter (29 September 1939 – 14 April 2001) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a left half. He is generally regarded as one of the country's greatest ever players. He was born, educated and started his career in Fife, but his peak playing years were in the early 1960s with the Glasgow club Rangers, whom he helped to win ten trophies between 1960 and 1965, and where he became known as "Slim Jim". However, he started drinking heavily during a four-month layoff caused by a leg fracture in December 1964, his fitness suffered, and he was transferred to Sunderland in summer 1965. In two and a half years at Sunderland he played 98 games and scored 12 goals, becoming known for drinking himself unconscious the night before a match and playing well the next day. At the end of 1967 Sunderland transferred him to Nottingham Forest, who gave him a free transfer back to Rangers in 1969 after 50 games. After a further year with Rangers Baxter retired from football in 1970, at the age of 31.

From 1961 to 1967, he was a leading member of a strong Scottish international team that lost only once to England, in 1965, shortly after he recovered from the leg fracture. He thought his best international performance was a 2–1 win against England in 1963, when he scored both goals after Scotland were reduced to 10 players – left back Eric Caldow had his leg broken in a tackle with Bobby Smith. In the 1967 match against England, who had won the 1966 World Cup, he taunted the opposition by ball juggling while waiting for his team-mates to find good positions. Although he was given most of the credit for the 3–2 win, some commentators wished he had made an effort to run up a bigger score.

In his prime, Baxter was known for his ability to raise a team's morale, his good tactical vision, precise passing and ability to send opponents the wrong way – and for being a joker on the pitch. He also broke with Glasgow tradition by becoming friendly with several members of their major Glasgow rivals, Celtic.