Ray Baxter

Not to be confused with Ray Baxter (footballer, born 1904).

Ray Baxter
Personal information
Date of birth (1940-02-24)24 February 1940
Date of death 11 November 2024(2024-11-11) (aged 84)
Original team(s) Kingsville
Height 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 79 kg (174 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1958–1964 Footscray 80 (120)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1964.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Ray Baxter (24 February 1940 – 11 November 2024) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Footscray in the Victorian Football League (VFL)

Biography

Recruited locally, from Kingsville, Baxter was a follower and key position player. He topped Footscray's goal-kicking in the 1959 VFL season, with 35 goals, six of which came in a loss to Essendon at Windy Hill.[1] His efforts were rewarded with selection in that year's Victorian team which played Tasmania.[2] He was the club's leading goal-kicker again in 1960, managing 37 goals, the seventh-biggest tally in the league that season.[1] Playing as a centre half-back, Baxter was a member of the Footscray team which won the 1963 Night Premiership.

Baxter continued in footy, by being both Captain and Coach of Mordialloc from 1965 to 1967. He was awarded Best & Fairest in both 1965 & 1966.

Baxter was successful in his career after football, being employed by Mazda in 1963, and becoming general manager by 1979. In 1987, he brought the Lease Plan to Australia as the Managing Director. Baxter was appointed Lease Plan Chairman for Australia & New Zealand in 1997, he held this position until his retirement in 2002.

Baxter always continued working with the Footscray Football Club (eventually the Western Bulldogs). He was Vice President Of the WBFC (Western Bulldogs Football Club) Board from 1996 to 2001. Ray Baxter was a Director of the Forever Foundation (est. 1999) and was also Chairman and Trustee of the Western Bulldogs Society (Bequests).

Baxter died on 11 November 2024, at the age of 84.[3] Darren Baxter, his son, would also play for Footscray.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b "AFL Tables: Ray Baxter". afltables.com.
  2. ^ Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia Of AFL Footballers. BAS Publishing. ISBN 978-1-920910-78-5.
  3. ^ "Baxter, Ray". My Tributes. 17 November 2024. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
  4. ^ The Age,"Moore on Salmon", 15 June 1984, p. 28


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