Stuart William Baxter (born 16 August 1953) is a British football manager and former player who most recently managed South African Premier Soccer League side Kaizer Chiefs. Born in England of Scottish parentage, and brought up in both countries, Baxter played professionally for a number of clubs in England, Scotland, Australia, Sweden and in the United States. He has previously managed clubs in Sweden, Norway, Portugal, Japan, South Africa, Turkey and India. In international football, he has managed

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

twice as well as

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and the England under-19 team.

Early life

Stuart Baxter was born in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

, Staffordshire, England, on 16 August 1953. His Scottish father, Bill Baxter, was a professional footballer then playing for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

and later for Aston Villa. Stuart initially grew up in England, while his father was coaching at Aston Villa, before the family moved to Scotland, where Bill had managerial jobs with East Fife and

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...

. During this time, Stuart was educated at

Buckhaven High School Buckhaven High School was a six-year co-educational non-denominational comprehensive school in Buckhaven, Fife, Scotland. In the past, Buckhaven was Levenmouth's high school for pupils who passed their qualifying exam. The school's motto was '' ...

in Fife. As a result of his background, Baxter is variously described as being English, Scottish or an

Anglo-Scot Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from, the Angles, England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term ''Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people o ...

in the media; he has commented on his identity, saying, "If I'm mentioned for a job in Scotland, they call me a Scot. If I'm mentioned for a job in England, they call me an Englishman. I call myself a European". He has also described himself as "a mongrel" and "proud to be British, although I feel more European".

Playing career

Baxter began his playing career with Preston North End in 1973. He joined Scottish club

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

in October 1975, but was released the following month after playing only for the reserve team. He then returned to England with

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

. Baxter then moved to Australia, Sweden and the United States respectively with

South Melbourne FC South Melbourne Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in suburb of Albert Park, in Melbourne, Victoria. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, with matches played at Lakeside Stadium ...

Helsingborgs IF Helsingborgs IF (full name Helsingborgs Idrottsförening), commonly referred to as HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish first tier, Allsvenskan, following promotion in the 2021 Superett ...

and

San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to: *San Diego Sockers (1978–1996) The San Diego Sockers were a soccer and indoor soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team played in the indoor and outdoor editions of the North American Soccer League ( ...

. His playing career ended in 1983. While playing for South Melbourne, Baxter was called up to train with the Australia national team, and played for Australia in unofficial matches against a Queensland XI and

Partizan Belgrade Jugoslovensko sportsko društvo Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Југословенско спортско друштво Партизан, lit=Yugoslav Sports Society Partizan), commonly abbreviated as JSD Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, ЈСД Партизан, link ...

in 1979. As he had not obtained Australian citizenship, he had to be withdrawn from the squad to play against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

when the match was classified as an official international.

Coaching career

Baxter returned to Scandinavia to begin his coaching career; he worked with

Örebro SK Örebro Sportklubb, more commonly known as Örebro SK, Örebro or (especially locally) ÖSK, is a Swedish professional football club based in Örebro. The club are affiliated to Örebro Läns Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Behrn ...

's youth team. In 1986, he was appointed manager of minor Norwegian side IF Skarp. The following year he landed a larger managerial role with Portuguese team

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória ...

before returning to Sweden for a three-year stint at

Halmstads BK Halmstads Bollklubb, also known simply as Halmstad () or (especially locally) HBK or Bollklubben, is a Swedish football club located in Halmstad in the county of Halland. The club, formed 7 February 1914 and approved membership in the Swedish ...

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 Sanfrecce Hiroshima ( ja, サンフレッチェ広島, translit=''Sanfuretche Hiroshima'') is a Japanese professional football club based in Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the co ...

, between 1992 and 1994, and then

Vissel Kobe is a Japanese professional football club based in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The team's home stadium is Noevir Stadium Kobe, in Hyōgo-ku, though some home matc ...

, in 1997. He took over as manager of Kobe only days after an earthquake caused devastation in the city and spent two weeks living in a makeshift caravan in the club car park.

AIK

In 1998, Baxter was bought back to Sweden by

AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

, where he guided them to the Swedish championship. Having qualified for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

, Baxter took AIK into the group stages where the Swedish champions played against some of Europe's largest teams, such as

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Arsenal and

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

. Unsurprisingly, AIK finished bottom of the group. After two years, he moved to Norwegian side

Lyn Oslo Ski- og Fotballklubben Lyn (lit. "Ski and Football Club Lightning") is a Norwegian alliance sports club from Nordre Aker, Oslo. It has two sections; for association football and Nordic skiing. Until 2010 they had a third section, for top-level a ...

England U-19, South Africa, Vissel Kobe and Helsingborg

Baxter was hired by

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

to coach the England Under-19 team in 2002. After two years, he was hired as

's manager. As guests of the

2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the eighth edition of the Gold Cup, the football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was contested in the United States in July 2005. The United States emerged victorious ...

, he led South Africa to the Quarter Finals before being eliminated via a penalty shootout by

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

. By autumn 2005, he quit this role having failed to qualify for the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

. 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 national team on a two-year contract. In January 2009 it was announced that he had signed an extended contract that would keep him in charge of the Finland team through the 2012 European Championships campaign. In June 2010, Baxter was strongly linked with a possible director of football position at Celtic to work alongside new manager

Neil Lennon Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish football coach and former player. During his playing career he represented English clubs Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City. Lennon moved to Celtic in 2000, where he ...

, however these hopes came to nothing as Celtic were unable to agree a settlement for Baxter's services with the Football Association of Finland. During the autumn of 2010, the Finland national team lost important matches against

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

, which led to widespread hopes for Baxter's resignation made public by the national team supporters, the media and the country's leading football pundits. 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. Baxter, however, refused to resign, attacking journalists for not understanding football well enough in order to evaluate his performance as a manager. The Football Association of Finland did not sack Baxter either, citing, e.g., financial reasons. The Finland national team's position in

FIFA World Rankings The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, led by Brazil . The teams of the men's member nations of FIFA, football's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the ...

sank from 33 to 86 under Baxter's guidance In November 2010, The Football Association of Finland announced that Baxter would no longer continue in his job as a manager of the national team.

Kaizer Chiefs

On 7 May 2012, Baxter was announced as the new manager of South African club, Kaizer Chiefs. He started his duties in June 2012. In the first season under his management, ''Amakhosi'' completed the double, finishing first in the 2012–13 Premier Soccer League and defeating Supersport United 1–0 to win the

Nedbank Cup The Nedbank Cup is the current name of South Africa's premier club soccer knockout tournament. While many formats have been used over the years, the tournament has always been based on the idea of giving lower league and amateur teams a chance t ...

. The

2013–14 South African Premier Division The 2013–14 South African Premier Division season (known as the ABSA Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the eighteenth season of the Premier Soccer League since its establishment in 1996. The draw for the Premier Division fixtures for ...

campaign ended in disappointment with the soweto based side failing to register a trophy despite occupying the top position in the league for the majority of the season. See Log for the previous League campaign: Chiefs, at the beginning of the 2014–15 South African Premier Division were drawn against

Mpumalanga Black Aces Black Aces were a South African football club that played in the Premier Soccer League. Aces usually played their home games in the Mpumalanga province but were based and trained in Johannesburg. History The original club was founded in 1937 by ...

in their first game of the cup competition the MTN 8, a match which they won 4–0 to progress to the semi-finals where they beat the defending champions Platinum Stars 2–0 and 3–0 respectively in both legs to set up a final with their Soweto counterparts and rivals

Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates Football Club (often known as "The Buccaneers") is a South African professional football club based in the Houghton suburb of the city of Johannesburg and plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as DStv ...

. During this period, Baxter led chiefs to nine wins in six of their league matches and also their three cup matches leading up to the final. Amakhosi's 10th victory in as many matches in all competitions this term was inspired by an unlikely source, captain

Tefu Mashamaite Tefu Mashamaite (born 27 September 1984 in Bochum, Transvaal) is a South African association football player who plays as a defender. Mashamaite is known for punishing defences with his powerful headers from corners and dead ball situations a ...

, who wore the armband in Itumeleng Khune's absence and vindicated coach Baxter's decision to give him the role ahead of the more favoured

Reneilwe Letsholonyane Reneilwe "Yeye" Letsholonyane (born 9 June 1982) is a South African retired professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. He represented the South Africa national team at international level. Early life Letsholonyane grew up kicking a ...

. Mashamaite, who captained his former club

Bidvest Wits Bidvest Wits Football Club, (simply often known as Wits University F.C. or Wits) was a South African professional football club from Johannesburg which played in the Premier Soccer League the first-tier of South African league football system ...

to the Nedbank Cup title in 2010, headed home the winner just before the half-hour mark against a Pirates side that seemed hypnotized for the better part of this match Baxter won his third trophy at the club in just his third season to start off yet another season with the MTN 8 trophy on Saturday 20 September 2014. Baxter completed his second league and cup double with Kaizer Chiefs that season, after reclaiming the PSL league title from Sundowns. On 2 June 2015, Baxter left Kaizer Chiefs.

Genclerbirligi

On 9 June 2015, Baxter joined Turkish club Genclerbirligi, but his contract was mutually terminated on 24 August 2015 after defeats in the first two games of the 2015–16 season.

SuperSport United

On 27 January 2016, Baxter was signed mid-season by SuperSport United. That season Baxter led his side to

glory. The following season (2016/2017) would see Supersport United retain their Nedbank Cup trophy, beating

again in the final.

Return to South Africa

On 4 May 2017, Baxter was named as South Africa coach for a second time, replacing Ephraim Mashaba, who was sacked in December 2016. Under his guidance Bafana Bafana qualified for the 2019 AFCON tournament, and beat tournament favourites and hosts, Egypt in the round of 16, before being knocked out by Nigeria. He resigned in August 2019.

Odisha FC

On 19 June 2020, Baxter was announced as the head coach of

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

club

Odisha FC Odisha Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Prior to the inaugural Indian Super League season, the club was founded ...

, on a two-year contract. However, he was sacked in February 2021 after complaining during a post-match interview about the refereeing in a defeat, saying that his players "would have to rape someone or get raped himself if he was going to get a penalty.”

Kaizer Chiefs return

In June 2021, Baxter rejoined Kaizer Chiefs for a second spell as head coach. On 17 July 2021, he coached Kaizer Chiefs in their first

Champions League Final The UEFA Champions League is a seasonal football competition established in 1955. Prior to the 1992–93 season, the tournament was named the European Cup. The UEFA Champions League is open to the league champions of all UEFA (Union of European ...

which they lost 3–0 against

Al Ahly AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

Family

As well as his father

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

, Baxter has a son, Lee, who is also a former professional football player and now a goalkeeping-coach.

Honours

Manager

Sanfrecce Hiroshima * J1 League 1st Stage Champions:: 1994 AIK * Allsvenskan:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...

: 1998–99 Helsingborgs *

: 2006 Kaizer Chiefs *

Premier Soccer League Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2014–15 *

* MTN 8:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

SuperSport United *

: 2016, 2017 South Africa * COSAFA Cup Plate Winner (2017, 2018) * Four Nations Cup Winner (2018)

Individual

* PSL Coach of the Season:

, 2014–15

References

External links