Jim Baxter, the man who stuffed the Celtic

A truly majestic player, of that there is absolutely no doubt!
However we've had numerous truly World Class players gracing the jersey over the years and it would be unfair to place any one of them at the top of the pile.
Slim is definitely up there with the very best of them!
 
I’m 43 so never had the pleasure of seeing him.

When you listen to older bears it’s hard to disagree them about the greatest ever,seen limited footage but what you see is a joy!!

Jim Baxter there is no doubt your a legend!!!!
 
Met my hero one night at a Charity function in Firhill. Dukla Pumpherston gig.

Imagine my incredulity when in my 20's I found my seat was right beside the man?

Fuuuuuuuucking amazing night beside an amazing man and an amazing player.

Anyone want to hear some boring stories of the evening from my dim and distant memory?
 
Jim Baxter was without doubt the best player I have ever seen playing for us, but remember the reason he was allowed to show his magic was having Eric Caldow behind him covering defensively
 
Slim was playing in my first game at Ibrox. The start of a lifelong love affair. Even at the age of 7, I could see that he stood out from all the other players. When I asked who he was my uncle said "Baxter. Couldnae tackle a fish supper!"
 
George Goudie said:
Met my hero one night at a Charity function in Firhill. Dukla Pumpherston gig.

Imagine my incredulity when in my 20's I found my seat was right beside the man?

Fuuuuuuuucking amazing night beside an amazing man and an amazing player.

Anyone want to hear some boring stories of the evening from my dim and distant memory?
Click to expand...


Of course!
 
George Goudie said:
Met my hero one night at a Charity function in Firhill. Dukla Pumpherston gig.

Imagine my incredulity when in my 20's I found my seat was right beside the man?

Fuuuuuuuucking amazing night beside an amazing man and an amazing player.

Anyone want to hear some boring stories of the evening from my dim and distant memory?
Click to expand...

Absolutely. Go for it.
 
George Goudie said:
Met my hero one night at a Charity function in Firhill. Dukla Pumpherston gig.

Imagine my incredulity when in my 20's I found my seat was right beside the man?

Fuuuuuuuucking amazing night beside an amazing man and an amazing player.

Anyone want to hear some boring stories of the evening from my dim and distant memory?
Click to expand...
Well........ Tell us
 
bluehaddie said:
Slim was playing in my first game at Ibrox. The start of a lifelong love affair. Even at the age of 7, I could see that he stood out from all the other players. When I asked who he was my uncle said "Baxter. Couldnae tackle a fish supper!"
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An attitude that still prevails in Scotland today unfortunately
I think it was Maldini, may have been Baresi or even someone else but I remember the quote "if I have to make a tackle I've already made a mistake"
I am just too young to have seen Baxter at his best but from what I've heard and even from the few clips on the OP it's obvious he was more than adept at reading the game and breaking up play by intercepting
For some reason in Scotland that ability receives little credit almost as if it is cheating somehow whereas its a lot more effective than sliding on your arse for 10 yards, crunching an opponent and giving away a throw in
 
Jim Baxter was a exceptional player,loved the big stage,the bigger the game and opposition the better Jim played.
I am sure older bears like myself will also remember some away games to the minnows of our league Jim hardly turned up,I think he just loved the big crowds.
 
Without doubt the greatest Scottish born player we've had in my lifetime.
When usual penalty taker Eric Caldow had his leg broken against England at wembleý and Scotland were awarded one, Slim stepped forward and grabbed the ball from Dave Mackay
 
Bighuggybear said:
Jim Baxter was a exceptional player,loved the big stage,the bigger the game and opposition the better Jim played.
I am sure older bears like myself will also remember some away games to the minnows of our league Jim hardly turned up,I think he just loved the big crowds.
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They used to say Jim Baxter
bluehaddie said:
Slim was playing in my first game at Ibrox. The start of a lifelong love affair. Even at the age of 7, I could see that he stood out from all the other players. When I asked who he was my uncle said "Baxter. Couldnae tackle a fish supper!"
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They said Jim Baxter couldn't tackle, couldn't run , couldn't head a ball etc. can you imagine just how good he would have been if he had those attributes. ? One of the best, if not the best footballer to grace Ibrox.
 
The best Scots born player in my lifetime.
The word gallus was made for him, and he played the game that way.
Took his 1st ever penalty against England and sent Banks the wrong way.
Played for a world select team, and was man of the match against Brazil, Pele and all at Hampden in 1966.
Still think we could have gone all the way in European Cup in 1964 if he hadn't had his leg broken.
 
basiltherat said:
An attitude that still prevails in Scotland today unfortunately
I think it was Maldini, may have been Baresi or even someone else but I remember the quote "if I have to make a tackle I've already made a mistake"
I am just too young to have seen Baxter at his best but from what I've heard and even from the few clips on the OP it's obvious he was more than adept at reading the game and breaking up play by intercepting
For some reason in Scotland that ability receives little credit almost as if it is cheating somehow whereas its a lot more effective than sliding on your arse for 10 yards, crunching an opponent and giving away a throw in
Click to expand...

Correct.
Bobby Russell was very adept at nicking the ball without thudding into a tackle.

Seems to me though the way to the Rangers support's heart is to dash about the pitch throwing yourself at opponents.
 
What an era that must have been to be a bear.

Quality right throughout the team, totally humiliating the Shettlestons on a regular basis, plus Baxter and a teenage Willie Henderson representing a Rest of the World team alongside some true greats.

You old bears don't know you were born.
 
My old dad's absolute footballing idol, even though not his Greatest Ranger. I got brought up on tales of how Baxter destroyed Celtic.

What was amazing for me when growing up were the number of older fans of other clubs who also said he was the best Scottish player they had ever seen. He must have been very special.

I did see him play, as a nipper I got taken to Ibrox when he came back. I remember asking my dad if he was the fat guy with the black hair!

Wish someone would hurry up and invent time travel, the 1963 cup final replay is one of my first stops.
 
Majestic player from my early days as a bear. People like slim don't come along too often.
 
I remember one game at Ibrox against Hearts, the pitch was a mud heap, all the players were covered in mud apart from slim Jim. He seemed to glide over the mud and even scored a rarity with his right foot.
 
He was my Grandad’s cousin, they played together at Sunderland. Some of the stories they used to get up to are mental :D they loved a dram!
 
He was a truly great player. We had a very strong team in the early 60’s and to think our left side was Caldow, Baxter and Wilson.

The above three all suffered serious injuries around 1963-1964. We will never if Baxter had stayed whether he would have returned to consistently being the same player as he was before he broke his leg. If I remember correctly, Rangers did not want to lose Jim but he wanted more money and headed for England.
 
The Meik's Crombie said:
He was a truly great player. We had a very strong team in the early 60’s and to think our left side was Caldow, Baxter and Wilson.

The above three all suffered serious injuries around 1963-1964. We will never if Baxter had stayed whether he would have returned to consistently being the same player as he was before he broke his leg. If I remember correctly, Rangers did not want to lose Jim but he wanted more money and headed for England.
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We had McMillan in the same team - who was almost as influential as Slim - what a truly superb team that was - but undoubtedly IMHO Baxter was the finest player in a Gers jersey I've seen (& by the way I 'm a really big fan if Laudrup, Gascoine, Cooper, to name only a few)
But Baxter was just sublime- he had a way of making everything look effortless- he made Stroller (George Graham - another fine player - look frantic)
Regrettably the films that exist of him don't to anything like justice to his talents
We all used to leave the match every week with comments like - 'did you see when Baxter did this ? Or when he went past this player or split their defence when he passed to whoever ? Just like Ceaser says - he loved to take the piss
Long may he be remembered
 
MearnsUnionist said:
What an era that must have been to be a bear.

Quality right throughout the team, totally humiliating the Shettlestons on a regular basis, plus Baxter and a teenage Willie Henderson representing a Rest of the World team alongside some true greats.

You old bears don't know you were born.
Click to expand...
Baxter and Denis Law were the two Scots who played in that Rest of World team v England. Henderson was picked to play in a European select team, i think it was v Denmark, iirc.
As for Baxter, those who seen him play witnessed a player who was truly world class even the great Pele acknowledged as much. And Willie Henderson wasn't too bad either.
 
Even in that short video clip there’s a quite a few touches on the ball that show he was ahead of his time.
 
Criminal that he was finished by the age of 30. But what a player he must have been to have seen in his prime, 1960 to 1964. I remember reading Lennox saying the scum players were on a plane coming back from a tour of the US when the news came through that he'd signed for Sunderland and they were all back slapping and celebrating as they knew the influence he had over both us and them. You can only wonder how things would have panned out if he'd been given the raise he was after as we only lost the league by two points to them in 1966. If we'd won that title it might have been us in Lisbon. It certainly would not have been them. That video was great btw op!
 
dh1963 said:
My old dad's absolute footballing idol, even though not his Greatest Ranger. I got brought up on tales of how Baxter destroyed Celtic.

What was amazing for me when growing up were the number of older fans of other clubs who also said he was the best Scottish player they had ever seen. He must have been very special.

I did see him play, as a nipper I got taken to Ibrox when he came back. I remember asking my dad if he was the fat guy with the black hair!

Wish someone would hurry up and invent time travel, the 1963 cup final replay is one of my first stops.
Click to expand...

He,like few others,spans the generation gaps.
Those,like my old man,who follow followed in that generation cannot see past him when discussing "the greats". I only saw him on his return and on grainy b&w tv footage.
Was he better than Gascoinge or Laudrup? I'd have to question that,but that's the beauty of football,is it not?

What's not up for debate is that in his initial spell he was among the very best players on the planet. Just listening to his contempories tells us that.
 
Alex Venters said:
He,like few others,spans the generation gaps.
Those,like my old man,who follow followed in that generation cannot see past him when discussing "the greats". I only saw him on his return and on grainy b&w tv footage.
Was he better than Gascoinge or Laudrup? I'd have to question that,but that's the beauty of football,is it not?

What's not up for debate is that in his initial spell he was among the very best players on the planet. Just listening to his contempories tells us that.
Click to expand...
I agree with Alex Venters re the beauty of debating whether one player was better than another. Gazza had more of a goal threat for us than Slim Jim but having seen both play, I would say Jim Baxter was the better player for us. He was certainly more in control of his emotions whereas Gazza gave the impression of being a bit brittle in respect of control of his emotions.

Brian Laudrup played in a totally different position than both Slim Jim and Gazza so the comparisons are a bit more difficult. I cannot decide who was better between Baxter and Laudrup.
 
I never saw him play, but I met him and got his autograph, the only one I've ever asked for. A gentleman.

Funny to think of the Scotland game at Wembley in 67, that was April or something, and after September that year his international career was over at the age of 28. An absolute crime by today's standards.
 
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