OPINION: Of all Stephen Baxter's remarkable achievements at Crusaders, is this the most impressive?

It’s not bringing the Seaview outfit back into the top-flight in his first full season in charge, the three Irish League titles, four Irish Cup crowns or even the 546 matches he has won to this point – it’s his astonishing European record.

In 13 of the last 16 campaigns, Baxter has helped the North Belfast club secure passage to the continental stage with next season’s tie increasing his tally to – at least – 38 matches managed in various competitions while bringing in millions in revenue through prize money, but sport is about much more than just financial windfalls – it’s about memories and moments.

The club’s first-ever European triumph over two legs as Paul Heatley’s brace secured a 2-1 victory against Ekranas in Lithuania. Champions League progression the following year past Levadia Tallinn. The Europa League outings against Premier League sides Fulham and Wolves, putting on a superb performance in front of 29,708 at Molineux with only an injury-time goal making sure of a 2-0 victory for the hosts – all these and more will stay with Crues fans for as long as they live.

Baxter mastered the art of securing European football, booking it in a variety of ways, whether it be amassing 91 points in both the 2015/16 and 2017/18 seasons (no team has collected more since the league transformed in 2008/09) to lift the Premiership title, winning three of the last six Irish Cup’s or holding their nerve in a play-off final, just like they did to beat Coleraine 3-2 on Monday.

For context, in the same time period (2009/10-2024/25), Linfield have qualified for Europe 15 times, Cliftonville on 10 occasions and Glentoran have managed it eight times, which just further illustrates Crusaders’ remarkable consistency under Baxter.

Another metric which helps to drive home how consistent they’ve been is the fact Crusaders have also finished in the league’s top-four in 13 of the past 16 seasons.

It’s becoming increasingly more difficult to seal these European positions with Larne a dominant force in the Irish League – Tiernan Lynch has now done it in each of the past four seasons – and the competition in general has continued to get more fierce, but Baxter has managed to find a way more often than not.

Fate would have it that Jordan Owens, a man who has scored over 250 times during his tenure, came off the bench to provide the winning goal on Monday afternoon while Paul Heatley marked what is set to be his final match before retirement with another assist.

It’s now the end of an era at Crusaders with Baxter to be succeeded in the dugout by Declan Caddell after what will be 955 matches (or potentially a couple more), but the 58-year-old’s impact – and all of the moments and memories he provided over the years – will be forever remembered.