Sammy Baird


Stuart Samuel Baird was a Scottish football player and manager.

Career

During his playing career he played for Clyde, Preston North End, Rangers, Hibernian, Third Lanark and Stirling Albion. He won three Scottish league titles and one Scottish Cup with Rangers.
Baird won the Division Two title in 1951–52 with Clyde. Baird scored five times for Rangers as they reached the 1959–60 European Cup semi finals and was influential for Hibernian on their run to the 1960–61 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup semi finals. Preston paid £12,000 for his signature and Rangers paid £10,000 for his services. Hibs then forked out £5,000 for him.
He earned seven international caps for Scotland from 1956 to 1958. He scored on his debut against Yugoslavia, and also in his last match, a 2–1 defeat by France in the 1958 FIFA World Cup. The latter goal was the first time a Rangers player scored in a World Cup Finals match.
As the manager of Stirling Albion he led them to promotion to Division One in the 1964–65 season, but he was sacked in 1968 because the club were heading for relegation back to Division Two.
Baird died on the morning of 21 April 2010.