Top facts about Jim Baxter, the Slim Jim

Football has the richest history amongst sports, at least that's what we believe. If you take look at its history, you will see that it's full of legends and football masters, people who were dedicated to change football for the good. Every nation has its heroes and Scotland is no exception.

James Curran Baxter was a left-half professional footballer from

. He is widely considered one of the finest players in the country's history.

He was born, raised, and began his career in Fife, but his best years were spent with Glasgow Rangers in the early 1960s when he helped the team win eleven trophies between 1960 and 1965 and earned the nickname "Slim Jim."

However, following a four-month layoff in December 1964 due to a leg fracture, he began to drink frequently, his fitness deteriorated, and he was transferred to Sunderland in summer 1965.

Baxter was recognized for his ability to boost a team's spirit, his tactical vision, precision passing, and ability to send opponents the wrong way — and for being a comedian on the pitch - during his peak. He also defied Glasgow tradition by befriending numerous members of Celtic, their main Glasgow rivals.

He became the manager of a pub after retiring from football, and his continuing excessive drinking severely damaged his liver, necessitating two liver transplants at the age of 55, after which he abstained from alcohol.

Baxter had a gambling problem and is said to have lost between £250,000 and £500,000. His burial was conducted in Glasgow Cathedral when he died of pancreatic cancer in 2001, and his ashes were interred at Rangers' Ibrox Stadium. In 2003, a statue was constructed at his honor in Hill of Beath, his hometown.

A complete and full article of top facts about Jim Baxter, the Slim Jim

In this article, we are going to take a look at this player's international career as well as his Transfermarkt statistics if available. We will also try to provide you with information about his net worth and overall wealth.

Top facts about Jim Baxter

article’s main goal is to familiarize you with any rare facts about Scottish legend, thus stay with us as we uncover the secrets of this man's life.

Jim Baxter information

For those who are unfamiliar with Jim Baxter or who want to prepare themselves for reading the top facts about Jim Baxter, let's start with the most important information about him.

Personal information

• Full name:

  James Curran Baxter

• Date of birth:

  29 September 1939

• Aged:

  61

• Star Sign:

  Taurus

• Star sign features:

  Aesthetic, patient, and calm

• Nationality:

  Scottish

• Place of birth:

  Hill of Beath, Fife, Scotland

• Marital status:

  In relationship

• Religion:

  Christianity

Football information

• Position:

  Left-half

• Last team played for:

  Ranger

• Total appearances:

  393

• Club appearances:

  359

• National appearances:

  34

Physical stats and appearance

• Height:

  1,80 m

• Hair color:

  Dark brown

• Skin color:

  White

• Facial hair:

  Clean

Now that you know everything there is to know about Jim Baxter, we can go on to the next section of the

top facts about Jim Baxter

, which will include further details and elaborations on the themes covered in the previous section.

Jim Baxter Transfermarkt

Let us take a look at his international career in this part of top facts about Jim Baxter. Baxter earned 34 caps for Scotland in the 1960s, playing with Billy McNeill, Pat Crerand, John White, Dave Mackay, Denis Law, and John Greig.

He scored three goals in 21 international games for Scotland, which won 21, drew three, and lost ten. In November 1960, he made his international debut when Scotland defeated Northern Ireland.

Baxter dominated Scotland in the 1967 British Home Championship, tantalizing

, who had won the World Cup the year before, by playing "keepie uppie" (ball juggling) while waiting for teammates to get into excellent positions.

, a teammate, gave views on both sides of the argument, claiming that Baxter was "the greatest player on the park" and the key cause for Scotland's triumph, but also claiming that Baxter's lack of urgency had stopped Scotland from avenging their 9–3 loss in April 1961.

When Baxter participated in all of the qualifying matches for the 1962 World Cup in 1960–61, they tied for top place in their qualifying group but lost the play-off to Czechoslovakia, who finished second to Brazil in the final.

After injuring his leg in a club game in Vienna four years later, Baxter appeared in just two qualifying games (one of which was against Italy, where he set up John Greig's winning goal after snatching the ball from Scotland's goalie). Scotland came in second place in their qualification group, trailing only Italy.

Jim Baxter before fame

Let us start from his prime days and get into his personal life from the start. Baxter was born on September 29, 1939, in Hill of Beath, Fife, where he was schooled and began his career.

In Hill O'Beath, on the outskirts of Cowdenbeath, he was reared as an only child in a miners' row. "When I reflect back on those times, I think of them as fantastic times," Jim remarked, "albeit there's not much to enjoy in a pit village - outdoor toilets and mince and potatoes as the main course."

After graduating from high school, he worked as an apprentice cabinet maker for eight months before becoming a coal miner. "Going into the hole in my hometown was as natural as a Peterhead lad going the sea," he recounted.

His mother was a matriarch, the oldest of thirteen children who, at the age of thirteen and without a mother, had given up education to care for her family.

Jim stated, "She was smart, funny, and intelligent, and she baked for all of the village weddings. She was the boss in my house."

As a kid, Jim lacked the devilishness that would become his trademark later in life.

His old headmaster, James Carmichael, was interested in ex-students and urged Baxter to join Halbeath Juveniles, a small football team, rather than one of the more prestigious teams. Baxter went on to play for Crossgates Primrose, a Fife junior team.

This is where and when a legend was born and became the reason that we are here today reading

top facts about Jim Baxter

.

Jim Baxter personal life

Baxter became a noted womanizer after joining Rangers. As he puts it, "At the Cowdenbeath Palais, I was a Raith Rovers player who couldn't pluck the birds. The females were throwing themselves at me the next day when I arrived in Glasgow.

It was definitely a shift, and I wasn't going to let it pass me by." He married Jean Ferguson, a hairdresser, in 1965, and the pair had two sons, Alan and Steven. In 1981, his marriage to Jean fell apart, and the two divorced.

Three years later, Jean married golfer William McCondichie. Baxter married Norma Morton in 1983, and the pair remained together until Baxter's death in 2001.

Baxter, like a number of other late-twentieth-century British football players, was a heavy drinker who was once believed to be downing three bottles of Bacardi a day. Dave Mackay, a Scotland teammate, unsuccessfully encouraged him to work out harder and live more responsibly.

The Left-half was known for getting very wasted the night before a game, but this did not appear to affect his performance, and team managers paid little attention to his drinking.

Baxter became a tavern licensee after retiring from football, undesirable employment for a problem drinker. He required two liver transplants in four days at the age of 55, and he swore to stop drinking.

Jim Baxter death

His poor habit selection led him off track and to a slow and painful death. This sad part of top facts about Jim Baxter is all about his death.

His other long-term addiction was gambling, which he said cost him £500,000 and £250,000, according to third-party estimates. "Aye, I would have risked £50,000 a week on the horses instead of £100," he later said when asked if obtaining the massive salaries earned by players in the following decades would have made a difference in his life.

Baxter was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February 2001, and he died on April 14, 2001, at his house on Glasgow's South Side, surrounded by his spouse Norma and kids Alan and Steven. Gordon Brown, a long-time supporter of Raith Rovers F.C., where Baxter began his career, gave a reading at his burial at Glasgow Cathedral.

Jim Baxter legacy

He left this plain but his memory has remained in the hearts and many have tried to describe him with words but no sentence can describe his greatness with Rangers but let us take a look at the things people have done after his death in this section of top facts about Jim Baxter.

, the manager of Manchester United, praised Baxter as "The finest player I ever played with... certainly, the best player to ever play in Scottish football" and "arguably the best player to ever play in Scottish football" He possessed touch, balance, perception, and a magnificent aura..." "Jim was the best left half ever produced by Rangers," stated manager Willie Waddell.

"He was a tremendous man and a genius on the ball," Jimmy Johnstone, who played for Rangers' bitter rivals Celtic, remarked immediately after Baxter's death. Pelé is alleged to have commented once that Baxter should have been a Brazilian.

"Where has this fellow been hiding?"

wondered after Baxter's performance in the 1963 "rest of the world" vs. England match. In an interview with FourFourTwo magazine shortly before his death, George Top-ranked Baxter as one of the best eleven players he had ever played with or against.

Baxter is a member of the Rangers Supporters' Hall of Fame and was one of the first 50 people inducted into the Scottish Sporting Hall of Fame in 2002.

He was inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2004. He was chosen into a list of the 100 greatest players of the twentieth century by readers in the December 1999 issue of World Soccer magazine.

Jim Baxter son’s death

Let us deviate from the main subject of the top facts about Jim Baxter and read about his son’s death.

Just days after Christmas, the son of Rangers and Scotland icon Jim Baxter died of a heart attack.

Steven Baxter, who followed his renowned father and the hero of top facts about Jim Baxter article, into the licensed trade, died in the hospital, only weeks after learning he had cancer. He was 49 years old at the time.

Alan, his bereaved brother, claimed that well-known personalities from the football world and beyond have contacted him to express their condolences for the youngest son of one of Scotland's greatest-ever footballers.

"Steven had a cardiac crisis 16 years ago, but he got over it, was on medicine, and was able to live a normal, regular life," Alan explained. Until lately, he was in great health. It's quite unfortunate since he played golf and swam and had been to locations like Las Vegas, Marbella, and Portugal in the previous year.

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