Even though that particular side played together less often than people may think, even now 40 odd years down the line it is a Rangers XI that still trips off the tongue of most Rangers fans of a certain vintage.
But how do we know that Baxter was THAT good? I mean should I just have taken at face value the words of my old man, his old man, my uncles and everyone else who watched Rangers back then? As much as I trusted all these peoples' judgement I wanted to see the proof for myself. And thanks to different snippets from videos and re-runs of games from that era I have been able to come to the conclusion that yes Baxter was as good as they say.
Jimmy Millar; was he just a plain, dour old-fashioned warhorse? Well, there's a marvellous wee cameo moment captured to perfection from one of the early sixties cup finals and with Rangers shooting towards the Celtic end at Hampden, Jimmy slips his marker and then threads a superb through ball inside the defender for a colleague to run onto. So once again thanks to that marvellous invention from the Logie Baird fella I've been able to make the decision that Jimmy Millar was more, much, much more than a battering ram. He was a clever player indeed.
Davie Wilson. Now my old man told me that it didn't matter who Rangers were playing. Davie celebrated every goal he scored as if it was the winning goal in a European Cup final. Well I've seen it with thine own eyes, as well as countless photographs of him celebrating a colleague's goal too. You do have to ask, was there ever a more enthusiastic Ranger who played for the club?
Then there's Ralphie Brand, who was considered a poacher and nothing more. Thanks to research from various people I was most interested to find out that Ralphie Brand was in many ways ahead of his time. He was a thinker and something of a footballing philosopher who would replay over and over again incidents from matches with his striking partner Jimmy Millar, on that train through to Ibrox for training every morning. More than that he would often get his partner to go out on the training pitch with him and re-enact some of those moves. Perhaps out of that team of the early 60s, maybe Ralphie Brand was the one who had most to offer us after his playing career was over.
We'll never know the answer to that question but because of the tremendous media coverage of the beautiful game, especially over the last half a century, Ralphie Brand's story has been told and the exploits of both himself and his early 60s Rangers team mates have at least in part been captured for posterity by the TV cameras.
But what of the ex Rangers down through the mists of time who thought as deeply about the game as Ralphie Brand, or were as dashing on the wing as Davie Wilson or could handle themselves in the box as deftly as Jimmy Millar or were as skilful as Baxter? Do their stories not deserve to be told?
Of course they do. But this is where the people who were asked to make a short-list of Rangers players from pre WW2 times to be in the running for the Rangers 'Hall of Fame' must have found it a difficult task. Because there were no TV cameras and because football wasn't as sensationalised in the press back then. The fact is unless you have an awful lot of time in your hands to do the research then to my mind an awful lot of players whose service to our club deserves more recognition have slipped through the net.
So what do we do? Well, some of us have come up with the idea, under the heading of; 'The Peoples' Choice' that it would be nice to try and at least acknowledge the endeavours of some of the unsung players from our past who for one reason or another have never got the appreciation or widespread public acknowledgement that their service to the club deserves.
What we aim to do is pick just two players (which is a helluva task in itself) from the following four time periods in the club's history, 1872-1900, 1901-1920, 1921-1950 and 1951-1980 whose service to the club should at least be remembered. We felt that because of media saturation most of us will have a good all round appreciation of the last 25 years, than say the pre WW2 years.
What we propose is that a few of us will submit candidates from the eras mentioned who we feel deserve to be honoured. And after whittling it down possibly to four or five from each section you dear reader can vote on the website for the candidate of your choice.
What we also propose to do is raise enough money at a Gala Dinner to award medals in memory of the players who win the website poll and to have these medals hung in a prominent place in a suitable Rangers minded establishment. Anyone who has been at any of the last three FF net nites will vouch for the credentials of the establishment in question.
As I see it, 'The Peoples' Choice' could be fun or it may instead end up a washout. I think the latter option would be a shame because anything that helps promote awareness of our history in my humble opinion has to be a good thing.
'The Peoples' Choice' is a new outlet for all of us and I'm sure there are many Rangers fans out there reading this who might feel strongly that they have a suitable choice of player in mind. If so, why don't you pop GS a note and maybe a few paragraphs on your chosen player? At least let us know on the website what thoughts you have on this subject.
Nominations for inclusion can be sent to - followfollow@hotmail.com