Robert Denholm "Bobby" Baxter (23 January 1911 – April 1991) was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 footballer

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 best known for his time with English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 club Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough F.C.

Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...

. He was born in the Gilmerton

Gilmerton, Edinburgh

Gilmerton is a suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is south-west of Danderhall. Its name derives from a combination of - from which we have the first, Gilmer, element - and ....

 area of Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

.

A dominating central defender and a great tackler, Baxter joined Middlesbrough from junior club Musselburgh Bruntonians in 1931 after being spotted by manager Peter McWilliam

Peter McWilliam

Peter McWilliam was a Scottish footballer who played at left-half for Inverness Thistle, Newcastle United and Scotland. He went on to manage both Tottenham Hotspur and Middlesbrough....

. The match McWilliam had been to Scotland to watch had been cancelled and after going to watch Musselburgh Bruntonians 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. He remained at Middlesbrough until 1946, but played for both Hearts

Heart of Midlothian F.C.

Heart of Midlothian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Gorgie, in the west of Edinburgh. They currently play in the Scottish Premier League and are one of the two principal clubs in the city, the other being Hibernian...

 and Hibernian

Hibernian F.C.

Hibernian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Leith, in the north of Edinburgh. They are one of two Scottish Premier League clubs in the city, the other being their Edinburgh derby rivals, Hearts...

 in unofficial matches during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. While at Middlesbrough he earned three caps

Cap (sport)

In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...

 for the Scotland national team

Scotland national football team

The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

.

Upon the return of official professional football in the 1946-47 season

1946-47 in Scottish football

The 1946–47 season was the 50th season of competitive football in Scotland, and the first since the 1938–39 season.-Scottish League Division A:Champions: Rangers-Scottish League Division B:-Scottish League Division C:...

, Baxter returned to Scotland where he played for Hearts for a single season. In 1947 he became player-manager of Leith Athletic

Leith Athletic F.C.

Leith Athletic Football Club is a football club based in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a member of the East of Scotland Football League. It plays most of its home games at Leith Links. The club was originally formed in 1887 and played in the Scottish Football League in four different...

 and was also joint manager of Scottish speedway

Motorcycle speedway

Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. Speedway motorcycles use only one gear and have no brakes and racing takes place on a flat oval track usually...

 team Edinburgh Monarchs

Edinburgh Monarchs

The Edinburgh Monarchs are a Scottish Speedway team, currently based in Armadale. They compete in the Speedway Premier League, racing on Friday nights during the Speedway season. The club is run by a Board of Directors, chaired by Alex Harkess. The team manager is Alan "Doc" Bridgett...

. He also later managed Cowdenbeath

Cowdenbeath F.C.

Cowdenbeath Football Club are a professional Scottish football team based in the town of Cowdenbeath, Fife. They currently play in the Second Division of the Scottish Football League. The club plays its home games at Central Park in the centre of the town which has the unusual feature of a motor...

 where he was appointed in 1951.

Baxter's son, also named Bobby, played professional football for Darlington

Darlington F.C.

Darlington Football Club is a professional association football club based in Darlington, County Durham, currently playing in the Conference National. The club was founded in 1883, and originally played its games at Feethams, before moving to the Darlington Arena in 2003...

, Brighton & Hove Albion

Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.

Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club are an English association football club based in the coastal city of Brighton & Hove, East Sussex. They currently play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system....

 and Torquay United

Torquay United F.C.

Torquay United Football Club, nicknamed the Gulls, are an English association football club based in the tourist resort town of Torquay, Devon. They played in the Conference National in 2008–09, but were promoted to Football League Two after a 2–0 win over Cambridge United on 17 May 2009 at Wembley...

.