Baxter was born in the
Gilmerton area of
Edinburgh. A dominating centre half and a great tackler, he joined Middlesbrough from
junior club
Musselburgh Bruntonians in 1931 after being spotted by manager
Peter McWilliam. The match McWilliam had been to Scotland to watch had been cancelled and after going to watch Musselburgh instead, he spotted the young defender and decided to sign him. Baxter went on to play 247 times for Middlesbrough, playing in nine different positions and later became club
captain. in unofficial matches during
World War II. and also made an appearance for the
Scottish League XI in a 1941 fundraising match, although the league itself was not operating (officially the team represented the
wartime Southern League) and he was only a guest player (for Hibs) at the time. Upon the return of official professional football in
the 1946–47 season, Baxter returned to Scotland where he played for Hearts for a single season. In 1947 he became manager of
Leith Athletic and was also joint manager of Scottish
speedway team
Edinburgh Monarchs. ==See also==