Stuart Baxter
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Stuart William Baxter | ||
| Date of birth | 16 August 1953 | ||
| Place of birth | Wolverhampton, England, United Kingdom | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1971–1973 | Preston North End | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1973–1975 | Preston North End | 41 | (1) |
| 1975 | Morecambe | 1 | (0) |
| 1975–1976 | Dundee United | 0 | (0) |
| 1976–1977 | Stockport County | 4 | (0) |
| 1978–1979 | South Melbourne FC | 50 | (4) |
| 1981 | Helsingborgs IF | ? | (?) |
| 1982 | South Melbourne FC | ? | (?) |
| 1983 | San Diego Sockers | ? | (?) |
| 1983–1984 | Örebro SK | 41 | (5) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1985 | Örebro SK | ||
| 1986 | IF Skarp | ||
| 1987 | Vitória Setubal | ||
| 1988–1991 | Halmstads BK | ||
| 1992–1994 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | ||
| 1995–1997 | Vissel Kobe | ||
| 1998–2000 | AIK | ||
| 2001 | Lyn | ||
| 2002–2004 | England Under-19 | ||
| 2004–2005 | South Africa | ||
| 2006 | Vissel Kobe | ||
| 2006–2007 | Helsingborgs IF | ||
| 2008–2010 | Finland | ||
| 2012– | Kaizer Chiefs | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Stuart Baxter (born 16 August 1953 in Wolverhampton) is a Scottish former football player and current manager of South African club Kaizer Chiefs FC. During his years as a professional player he played for a number of clubs in England, Scotland, Australia, Sweden and in the United States. He has previously managed clubs in Sweden, Norway, Portugal and Japan as well as managing the national teams of South Africa, Finland and the England under-19 national football team.
Early life
Baxter, who has a Scottish father and an English mother, was born in Wolverhampton.[1]
Playing career
He began his playing career with Preston North End in 1973. He later moved north to Scotland to join Dundee United before returning to England with Stockport County. Baxter then moved to Australia, Sweden and the United States respectively with South Melbourne FC, Helsingborgs IF and San Diego Sockers. His playing career ended in 1983.
Coaching career
Baxter returned to Scandinavia to begin his coaching career; he worked with Örebro SK's youth team. In 1986, he was appointed manager of minor Norwegian side Idrettsforeningen Skarp. The following year he landed a larger managerial role with Portuguese team Vitória de Setúbal before returning to Sweden for a three-year stint at Halmstads BK between 1988 and 1991. In his first year with Halmstad he guided them to promotion to the Allsvenskan but the club was relegated at the end of his tenure. Baxter moved to Japan to first coach Sanfrecce Hiroshima, between 1992 and 1994, and then Vissel Kobe, in 1997. He took over as manager of Kobe only days after an earthquake caused devastation in the city and spent 2 weeks living in a makeshift caravan in the Club carpark.
AIK
In 1998, Baxter was bought back to Sweden by AIK, where he guided them to the Swedish championship. Having qualified for the UEFA Champions League, Baxter took AIK into the group stages where the Swedish champions played against some of Europe's largest teams, such as FC Barcelona, Arsenal and Fiorentina. Unsurprisingly, AIK finished bottom of the group. After two years, he moved to Norwegian side Lyn Oslo.
Baxter was hired by the Football Association to coach the England Under-19 team in 2002. After two years, he was hired as South Africa's manager. By autumn 2005, he quit this role having failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. He later had another short spell at Vissel Kobe before moving back to Helsingborg, this time as manager in 2006. He took the Swedish side past the group stages of the UEFA Cup in 2007 but he resigned at the end of the year.
Finland
At the beginning of 2008, Baxter was appointed manager of Finland on a two-year contract.[2] In January 2009 it was announced that he has signed an extended contract that will keep him in charge of the Finland team through the 2012 European Championships campaign.[3]
In June 2010 Baxter was strongly linked with a possible director of football position at Celtic to work alongside new manager Neil Lennon,[4] however these hopes came to nothing as Celtic were unable to agree a settlement for Baxter's services with the Football Association of Finland.[5][6]
During the autumn of 2010, The Finland national team lost important matches against Moldova and Hungary, which lead to widespread hopes for Baxter's resignation made public by the National Team Supporters, the media and the country's leading football pundits.[7] It turned out, too, that Baxter had failed to establish communicative relationships with some of the key players in the squad, favouring certain players instead.[8] Baxter, however, refused to resign, attacking against journalists for not understanding football well enough in order to evaluate his performance as a manager.[9] The Football Association of Finland did not sack Baxter either, citing, e.g., financial reasons.[10]The Finland national team's position in FIFA World Rankings has sunk from 33 to 86 under Baxter's guidance[11] On November 2010, The Football Association of Finland revealed that Baxter would no longer continue in his job as a manager of the national team.[12]
Kaizer Chiefs
On 7 May 2012 Baxter was announced as the new manager of South African club, Kaizer Chiefs FC.[13] He started his duties in June 2012.
Family
Baxter has a son, Lee, who is also a former professional football player and now a goalkeeping-coach for AIK. His brother was also a professional footballer, but who died of cancer in his early 30s. Baxter also has daughter Kelly 33, both Lee and Kelly are from his previous marriage to Sandy Baxter and also Stuart has Natalie 21 and Sean 15 with his present wife Cecilia who is Swedish. Both Baxters sons play football, his younger brother Mick played football and even Baxters father William (Bill) played both in England and Sweden.
Honours
2012-2013 ABSA Premiership League with Kaizer Chief (South Africa)
Manager
Club
- J. League Division 1:1st Stage Champions: 1
- Allsvenskan: 1
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- 1998–99
References
- ^ Szreter, Adam (16 November 2000). "Bradford looking to Baxter to take the reins". www.guardian.co.uk (London: The Guardian). Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ "Stuart Baxter Huuhkajien päävalmentajaksi". palloliitto.fi (in Finnish) (Suomen Palloliitto). Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ "Stuart Baxter jatkaa Huuhkajien luotsina". palloliitto.fi (in Finnish) (Suomen Palloliitto). Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ "Celtic approach Finland coach Stuart Baxter". bbc.co.uk (BBC Sport). 4 June 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ "Celtic Football Club statement". celticfc.net (Celtic FC). Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ "Celtic concede defeat over Stuart Baxter advisory role". bbc.co.uk (BBC Sport). 3 August 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ "Jalkapallofanit ja vaikuttajat pettyneitä liiton Baxter-ratkaisuun". hs.fi (in Finnish) (HS). Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ "Eremenkon kritiikki vaikeuttaa Baxterin asemaa". mtv3.fi (in Finnish) (MTV3). Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ "Baxter hermostui toimittajille – lue koko tilitys!". Iltalehti.fi (in Finnish) (Iltalehti). Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ "Baxter jatkaa Huuhkajien peräsimessä". hs.fi (in Finnish) (HS). Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ "Suomi vajosi futislilliputtien joukkoon". hs.fi (in Finnish) (HS). Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ "Ratkaisu tyydytti kaikkia osapuolia". www.palloliitto.fi (in Finnish) (Palloliitto). Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ "Baxter Joins Chiefs".
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