Jim Baxter: Slim Jim’s Rangers Years and Ibrox Legacy

A record signing from Raith Rovers

James Curran Baxter was born in Hill of Beath, Fife, on 29 September 1939. The Scottish Sports Hall of Fame records that he worked as an apprentice cabinet-maker and a miner before Raith Rovers signed him from junior football in 1957. His performances at Stark’s Park persuaded Rangers manager Scot Symon to pay what the Scottish Football Museum describes as a record Scottish transfer fee of £17,500.

The Rangers Archives dates the signing to 21 June 1960. His competitive debut followed on 13 August 1960, a 3–1 win over Partick Thistle. He played as an attacking left half, the position that would now sit somewhere in central or left-sided midfield.

The star of Symon’s early-1960s side

The Scottish Football Museum calls Baxter the star of the Rangers team that dominated Scottish football in the early 1960s. Accounts consistently emphasise his vision, precise passing and an ability to send opponents the wrong way. He was nicknamed ‘Slim Jim’, and his confidence on the ball was part of his appeal to supporters.

Between 1960 and 1965 he won 3 league championships (1960/61, 1962/63 and 1963/64), 3 Scottish Cups (1962, 1963 and 1964) and 4 League Cups, which the archive lists as 1960, 1961, 1963 and 1964. Because League Cup seasons straddle two calendar years, those labels are not added to separately: the total is ten major domestic trophies, the figure used by the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame. The 1963/64 season produced a domestic treble.

His standing went beyond Scotland. The museum records his selection for the Rest of the World squad against England in the Football Association’s centenary match of 1963.

The broken leg in Vienna and the move south

Rangers’ own match report from 2018 recalls that Baxter broke his leg in the away leg against Rapid Vienna in the 1964/65 European Cup. Rangers won that tie, but lost to Inter Milan in the quarter-final without him. The injury came in December 1964, and his first Rangers spell ended the following summer.

The archive records his departure for Sunderland on 25 May 1965. He later played for Nottingham Forest before returning to Rangers in 1969. His final competitive match was against Aberdeen on 20 December 1969, and he retired in 1970. His last Rangers goal came against Górnik Zabrze in November 1969.

254 or 263 appearances?

The Rangers Archives gives two totals on the same page. It lists 254 competitive appearances and 25 goals: 150 league matches (20 goals), 54 League Cup, 21 Scottish Cup and 29 European. Adding nine ‘other’ matches gives 263 appearances and 26 goals across every first-team match.

The Scottish Sports Hall of Fame’s figure of 254 games matches the archive’s competitive count. This article uses 254 competitive appearances and keeps the larger all-match total separate, rather than mixing the two scopes. The archive’s page header gives his years as 1960–1965, although its own debut and final-match details include the 1969 return.

Wembley, Scotland and lasting fame

Baxter won 34 Scotland caps. Two games against England at Wembley dominate his reputation: in 1963 he scored both Scottish goals in a 2–1 win, and in 1967 he famously played keepie-uppie as Scotland beat the reigning world champions 3–2. Those were international matches in London, not Ibrox fixtures.

He is a member of the Rangers Hall of Fame, the Scottish Football Museum’s Hall of Fame and the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame, which inducted him in 2002. Baxter died in 2001, aged 61.

Alan Morton: an earlier Rangers hero of Wembley

Remembering Baxter today

Baxter’s statue is in his birthplace, Hill of Beath in Fife, rather than at Ibrox. In April 2026 Rangers announced that it would be refurbished, with a new plaque unveiled to mark 25 years since his death. Visitors to Ibrox should not expect to find that statue at the stadium.

At Ibrox, his story belongs to the wider club history presented through the museum and tours. Our guides link to current booking information; the availability of a particular Baxter object or display is not guaranteed.

Rangers Museum and Edmiston House visitor information