Tom Smith (rugby union, born 1883) explained

Tom Smith
Birth Date:15 August 1883
Birth Place:Rearsby, Leicestershire
Death Place:Halton Holegate, Lincolnshire
Occupation:Publican
Ru Position:Forward
Years1:1906 - 1908
Clubs1:Leicester Tigers
Apps1:58
Repyears1:1908
Repteam1:British Isles
Repcaps1:2

Thomas William Smith (15 August 1883 – 15 May 1960[1]) was a rugby union forward who played 58 times for Leicester Tigers between 1906 and 1908. Wood made his Leicester debut on 17 March 1906 against Birkenhead Park FC. Smith was also a member of the 1908 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia and played in the second and third test, drawing the second and losing the third.

An RFU inquiry in 1908 declared Smith a professional after which he signed professional forms for Broughton Rangers, though he never played a game for them he did turn out once for Coventry's Northern Union side in 1910. Leicester's secretary Tom Crumbie tried to have Smith's amateur status re-instated on the basis that his signature was obtain by gross misrepresentation but was never successful.

Sources

Farmer,Stuart & Hands, David Tigers-Official History of Leicester Football Club (The Rugby DevelopmentFoundation)

Mather, Tom Rugby's Greatest Mystery: Who really was F.S.Jackson?, Appendix 2: The Tigers feat: Leicester Tigers and the RFU 1895 to 1914 (London League Publications LTD)

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Tom Smith. ESPNscrum. 24 September 2016.