Legacy
Baxter was noted for accurate passes, for sending opponents the wrong way with a swivel of his hips, and for inspiring team-mates with his confident approach. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson described Baxter as "arguably the best player to play in Scottish football" and "the greatest player I ever played with ... He had touch, balance, vision and just this wonderful aura ..." Rangers manager Willie Waddell said, "Jim was the finest left half ever produced by Rangers." Jimmy Johnstone, who played for Ranger's great rivals Celtic, said shortly after Baxter's death, "He was a great man and a genius on the ball." Allegedly Pelé once said that Baxter should have been a Brazilian. After Baxter's performance in the 1963 "rest of the world" vs England match, Ferenc Puskás asked, "Where has this fellow been hiding?"
Baxter is a member of the Rangers supporters' Hall of Fame, and one of the first 50 added to the Scottish Sporting Hall of Fame when it was created in 2005. In 2004, he was also inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame. He played most of his best football in his early twenties, before the leg fracture against Rapid Vienna in December 1964 and the start of his heavy drinking that made his nickname "Slim Jim" less appropriate.
Baxter attracted attention by his stylish play, controlling the game with "unhurried artistry" and refusing to conform with the "efficient" style that dominated English football or the energetic, physical style that was typical of Rangers at the time. He described his approach as "treating the ball like a woman. Give it a cuddle, caress it a wee bit, take your time, and you'll get the required response". Although Rangers insisted that players tuck their shirts completely into their shorts, Baxter always let part of his dangle over his left hip. He was also noted as a joker on the pitch. After the replay of the Scottish Cup Final against Celtic in 1963 he stuffed the match ball up his shirt and later gave it to a new member of the team. The SFA insisted that the ball should be returned, and Rangers sent them a ball, but possibly not the match ball.
The Tartan Army unsuccessfully attempted to get the new Wembley Stadium footbridge named after him, and on 24 February 2005 Scottish National Party MP Pete Wishart presented an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons supporting this campaign.
In 2003, a statue of Baxter was erected in his birthplace, Hill of Beath in Fife, after a campaign that raised £80,000.
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Famous quotes containing the word legacy:
“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)