death_date nationalcaps birth_date years death_place caps goals nationalyears image caption fullname birth_place nationalteam totalcaps totalgoals nationalgoals clubs position article_title
14 april 2001 34 29 september 1939 1957 1967 1967 -- 1969 1969 -- 1970 -- 1960 1960 -- 1965 1965 -- 1967 glasgow , scotland 62 136 87 12 48 14 3 18 10 2 3 1 1960 -- 1967 jim baxter in scotland shirt.png baxter during his time at nottingham forest james curran baxter hill of beath , scotland scotland 359 37 3 raith loan -rrb- nottingham forest rangers rovers rangers sunderland → vancouver royal canadians -lrb- left midfielder jim baxter

jim baxter

james curran baxter -lrb- 29 september 1939 -- 14 april 2001 -rrb- was a left-footed scottish footballer who played as a midfielder .
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 .
although he gained a reputation as a womaniser when he moved to glasgow , he married in 1965 and had two sons .
the marriage broke up in 1981 , and in 1983 he formed another relationship that lasted the rest of his life .
after retiring from football he became manager of a pub , and his continued heavy drinking damaged his liver so badly that he needed two transplants at the age of 55 , after which he swore off alcohol .
baxter was also addicted to gambling , and is estimated to have lost between # 250,000 and # 500,000 .
after he died of pancreatic cancer in 2001 , his funeral was held in glasgow cathedral and his ashes were buried at rangers ' ibrox stadium .
in 2003 , a statue was erected in his honour at his hometown , hill of beath .
