Slim Jim Baxter: The Definitive Biography

by KenGallacher (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2002

  $4.16

  Jim Baxter was one of the greatest footballers Scotland has ever produced. But his career was over by the time he reached 30 and in 2001 he died at the early age of 61, victim of a life-style that ultimately destroyed him. He played just two games against England at Wembley, but these 180 minutes turned him into a legend. The victories in 1963 and 1967 - the second one when England were World champions - were Baxter's greatest performances for his country. His way of turning on the style was how the supporters wanted to see the game played. He played for Rangers for only five years and returned briefly for a sad spell after five unhappy seasons in England. Years of drinking had taken their toll on his fitness and saw his career end at a time when he should have been at his peak. Ultimately alcohol also killed him.

• Used

  Paperback
  2003

  $3.37

  Jim Baxter was one of the greatest footballers Scotland has ever produced. But his career was over by the time he reached 30 and in 2001 he died at the early age of 61, the victim of a lifestyle that ultimately destroyed him. Slim Jim Baxter charts the great man's rollercoaster years, his emergence at Ibrox as a world-class midfield player and the rapid decline as he pressed the self-destruct button and blew away his life as a footballer. Team-mates and friends tell how Baxter lived by his own rules and how he finally faced up to death with a courage and dignity which impressed all who saw him in his last few tragic months. Above all, Ken Gallacher's biography is the story of an extraordinary footballer who was touched by genius, and of a young man from the Fife coal-fields who could not always cope with the fame his skills brought him.