On this day in 1965, legendary Scotland international Jim Baxter became Sunderland's record signing when he arrived from Rangers for £72,500.
Born in Fife, Baxter started his career with Raith Rovers before earning a move to Rangers on the back of orchestrating a 3-2 win over the Glasgow side.
The left half spent five successful years at Ibrox, during which time the Blues won the league title in 1961, 1963 and 1964, while also lifting the Scottish Cup on three occasions and League Cup times.
Known as ‘Slim Jim’, Baxter played in all seven finals and lost just two of the 18 Old Firm games he played in, with a move to Sunderland coming to fruition in 1965.
The Scot spent two seasons at Roker Park and made 87 league appearances, with a two-year spell at Nottingham Forest preceding his return to Rangers where he ended his career in 1970.
Widely regarding as one of Scotland’s greatest players, Sir Alex Ferguson described Baxter as ‘arguably the best player to play Scottish football’ and ‘the greatest player I ever played with’.
Pele, Ferenc Puskas and George Best were also among the great names to single out the former Black Cat.