Alan Smith (15 October 1921 – 27 May 2019) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as an

outside left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

, and

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

making a total of 22 appearances, scoring 5 goals.

Playing career

Smith joined First Division club

in May 1946 after being

demobbed Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...

from the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. He made his league debut, aged 24, on 7 September 1946 against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. He made only a further two appearances for "The Gunners" before, in December 1946, being transferred to another First Division club

. Smith scored his first league goal on 26 December 1946 for Brentford in a 2–1 victory against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

and scored a total of three goals in ten league appearances for "The Bees" over the 1946–47 season – at the end of which the club were relegated. He did not play any further league matches for Brentford until the tail-end of the 1948–49 season, when he appeared in three

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

matches, scoring one goal. In July 1949 Smith was part of a player exchange deal (with

Reg Newton Reginald William Newton (26 June 1926 – 21 November 1976) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League for Brentford and Leyton Orient. Playing career Leyton Orient A goalkeeper, Newton began h ...

moving in the opposite direction) that took him to

of the

Football League Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

. He played in six matches, scoring one goal for "The Os" in the 1949–50 season. During the summer of 1950 Smith moved to

non-league Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

football when he signed with

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...

of the

Southern Football League The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English fo ...

, reuniting with his former Brentford manager Harry Curtis. He spent three seasons with Tonbridge, and had the misfortune to suffer a broken leg break during the 1951–52 season albeit he was fit for the start his final season, 1952–53, with "The Angels". Smith next signed with Ashford Town, who were managed by his former Brentford teammate David Nelson and played with the club for a single season, 1953–54, in the Kent League (his subsequent clubs were all members of this league). In September 1954 Smith joined

Whitstable Whitstable () is a town on the north coast of Kent adjoining the convergence of the Swale Estuary and the Greater Thames Estuary in southeastern England, north of Canterbury and west of Herne Bay. The 2011 Census reported a population of 32 ...

where he remained until early December 1955 when he then signed for Ramsgate Athletic. However, after a few games for "The Rams" reserves team, in February 1956 he to moved on to

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

. At the start of the following, 1956–57, season Smith rejoined Whitstable, however on 3 April 1957 he played his final match for "The Oystermen" – a midweek Thames and Medway Combination match against Tunbridge Wells United – as he was leaving the UK for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. However, Smith returned after several months and again played in the Kent League: in August 1957 he had a one month trial with Tunbridge Wells United, and then in October 1957 he joined Chatham Town for whom he played during the remainder of the 1957–58 season.

Personal life

Whilst in Canada, Smith worked for a time at a

uranium mine Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. Over 50 thousand tons of uranium were produced in 2019. Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia were the top three uranium producers, respectively, and together account f ...

, then on his return to the UK he worked as a

painter and decorator A house painter and decorator is a tradesman responsible for the painting and decorating of buildings, and is also known as a decorator or house painter.''The Modern Painter and Decorator'' volume 1 1921 Caxton The purpose of painting is to imp ...

and also for the

London Electricity Board The London Electricity Board was the public sector utility company responsible for the supply and distribution of electricity to domestic, commercial and industrial consumers in London prior to 1990. It also sold and made available for hire and ...

. Together with his wife he was a medal winning

ballroom dance Ballroom dance is a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television. ...

r. Smith died in

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

, England on 27 May 2019, aged 87.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Alan 1921 births English men's footballers Men's association football outside forwards Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne English Football League players Southern Football League players Kent Football League (1894–1959) players Arsenal F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Tonbridge Angels F.C. players Ashford United F.C. players Whitstable Town F.C. players Ramsgate F.C. players Dover F.C. players Tunbridge Wells F.C. players Chatham Town F.C. players 2019 deaths English expatriates in Canada English miners