Jim Baxter - International Career

International Career

In the 1960s Baxter gained 34 caps as a member of strong Scottish teams, which included Billy McNeill, Pat Crerand, John White, Dave Mackay, Denis Law and John Greig. In his international appearances he scored three goals, and Scotland won 21, drew 3 and lost 10 of these matches. He made his international debut in November 1961, when Scotland beat Northern Ireland. Earlier in 1961 Scotland 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.

According to many commentators, his greatest performances were against England in 1963 and 1967. Baxter regarded his performance in 1963 as the better of the two. In the 1963 game Scotland were reduced to 10 men when their left back Eric Caldow's leg was broken in a tackle – substitutions were not allowed in those days. Baxter, supported by Mackay, White and Law, 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. Bobby Moore thought this was the best team Scotland ever fielded.

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 no longer able to inspire his team-mates, and Scotland lost 4–3 to England.

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, by playing "keepie uppie" (ball juggling) while waiting for team-mates to get into good positions. 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. Team-mate 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, but complaining that Baxter's lack of urgency had prevented Scotland from thoroughly avenging the 9–3 defeat in April 1961. Alex Ferguson said Baxter's performance "could have been set to music". 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. As Scotland were the first team to beat England after the 1966 FIFA World Cup, the Tartan Army proclaimed themselves "unofficial world champions".

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

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. However at the time beating England was more important to the Scots. 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, who were runners-up to Brazil in the Final. Four years later Baxter played in only two of the qualifying games, before breaking his leg in a club game in Vienna. Scotland finished second in their qualifying group, behind Italy. In 1968–69 he was not selected to play in any of the qualifiers for the 1970 World Cup.