Bobby Smith (footballer, born 1933) explained

Bobby Smith
Upright:0.7
Fullname:Robert Alfred Smith
Birth Date:22 February 1933
Birth Place:Lingdale, North Riding of Yorkshire, England
Death Place:Enfield, London, England
Position:Centre-forward
Youthclubs1:Redcar Boys Club
Youthclubs2:Chelsea
Years1:1950–1955
Clubs1:Chelsea
Caps1:74
Goals1:23
Years2:1955–1964
Clubs2:Tottenham Hotspur
Caps2:271
Goals2:176
Years3:1964–1965
Clubs3:Brighton & Hove Albion
Caps3:31
Goals3:19
Years4:1965–1967
Totalcaps:376
Totalgoals:218
Nationalyears1:1960–1963
Nationalteam1:England
Nationalcaps1:15
Nationalgoals1:13

Robert Alfred Smith (22 February 1933 – 18 September 2010) was an English footballer who played as a centre-forward for Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton and Hove Albion and England. He finished as the First Division's top scorer in the 1957–58 season and he is Tottenham Hotspur's third-highest goal scorer with 208 goals.

Club career

Smith was born in Lingdale, North Riding of Yorkshire, and was spotted by Chelsea when playing for Redcar Boys' Club, where he had originally started out as a full back.[1] He signed professional for the London club in 1950.[2] He scored 23 League goals in 74 appearances, and seven FA Cup goals in twelve appearances.[3] He was part of the 1954–55 Chelsea side that won the First Division, though he only made four appearances that season.[4] Despite the fact he never really became established as a regular with Chelsea between 1950 and 1955, Tottenham Hotspur paid £18,000 for his transfer in December 1955.

Smith was an integral part of Bill Nicholson's famous double winning Tottenham team of 1960–61. He was Tottenham's top scorer in the double-winning season, with 33 goals scored in 43 games, including the first of the two goals in the 1961 FA Cup Final.[5] The team also went on to retain the FA Cup in 1962 (scoring in the Final again) and win the 1963 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. He is one of Spurs' all-time top goal scorers, third behind Harry Kane and Jimmy Greaves, with 208 goals scored in 317 senior matches,[6] including 12 hat-tricks.[7]

Smith played for Brighton & Hove Albion from 1964 to 1965, scoring 19 goals in 31 appearances.

International career

Smith won 15 full international caps for the England national team which included two goals in the 9–3 defeat of Scotland at Wembley in 1961. He played for England from 1960 to 1963, scoring 13 goals.

Post-playing career

Smith published a book in 2002 to celebrate his achievements, Memories of Spurs, with a foreword by Jimmy Greaves.

He died on 18 September 2010 following a short illness at a hospital in Enfield, London.[8]

Honours

Tottenham Hotspur

1960–61

1960–61, 1961–62[9]

1961, 1962

1962–63

Brighton & Hove Albion

1964–65

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bobby Smith . redcarfootball.com . 12 November 2022.
  2. Soccer Who's Who compiled by Maurice Golesworthy, The Sportsmans Book Club London 1965
  3. Chelsea Football Club The Full Statistical Story 1905–1986 by Scott Cheshire and Ron Hockings
  4. News: Champions of a different era . Charlie . Henderson . BBC Sport . 30 April 2005 . 5 April 2020.
  5. Book: Welch, Julie. The Biography of Tottenham Hotspur . Vision Sports Publishing. 7 September 2015 . 9781909534506 . Chapter 13: What's the Story, Eternal Glory?.
  6. Web site: Bobby Smith . 22 September 2010. The Daily Telegraph .
  7. Web site: 2016–17 in numbers – Harry's hat-tricks. www.tottenhamhotspur.com. 1 June 2017. 12 February 2019.
  8. http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/spurs/News/Archive/news_2010_9_1826.page Bobby Smith THFC official website
  9. Book: Leslie . Jack . Vernon . Rollin . Rothmans Football Yearbook 1977–78 . 1977 . Brickfield Publications Ltd . London . 0354 09018 6 . 490.