Yet another obituary!

I hadn’t thought about Jim Baxter for years but it was his name that came to mind when I was trying to, think of whom Carvalho of Chelsea reminds me. Carvalho doesn’t appear to have Baxter’s endearing cheekiness, borne of his obvious joy in sharing his gifts with the crowd, but Carvalho has that unhurried precision of movement that is reminiscent of Baxter. Of contemporary players, the only one who has a similar spirit is Ronaldinho. Besides televised games, such as the bravura 1967 performance against England that most writers are justly mentioning, I saw him play live for Sunderland against United. He was a joy to watch. A truly unique, great player.

The Ronaldinho connection reminds me of how football is a kind of universal language. Poor kids from around the world, growing up in tough, tough places learn to express themselves as artists with the ball. I’ve always, I admit, found the Scots particularly interesting in this regard. In my mind, Scots produce among the toughest and the greatest finesse players. In the latter category, besides Baxter we have Alex Young and in the former players like Ian Ure and Billy Bremner. Paddy Crerand was a combination. Not that Baxter couldn’t take a knock. He could; it’s just that the ball artist in him predominated.

I’ll have a Glenmorangie to your memory, Jim.