Former Rangers player Baird dead at 79 – club

Former Rangers and Scotland midfielder Sammy Baird has died at the age of 79, the club announced Wednesday.

Baird played in the Glasgow giants’ first match in European football, against Nice in the 1956/57 European Cup.

He was also a member of the team that reached the semi-final of the competition in 1960 before losing to Eintracht Frankfurt.

Baird spent six years at Rangers, making 172 appearances in all competitions and scoring 52 goals after joining from English side Preston in 1955.

He also won seven Scotland caps and scored against France in the 1958 World Cup finals in Sweden.

A left half, he won the Scottish championship in his first season at Ibrox and again in 1957. He also won the Scottish Cup three years later.

Baird left Rangers for Hibernian in 1960 and spent two seasons with the Edinburgh club.

“Rangers’ thoughts are with Sammy’s family at this time,” a club statement said.