Andrew Thomas Smillie (born 15 March 1941) is an English former 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
inside forward
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 ...
.
Smillie was born in
Ilford and played for Ilford, London and England Schoolboys. He joined the groundstaff at
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
in 1956 and gained three
England Youth
England national under-18 football team, also known as England under-18s or England U18(s), represents England in association football at under-18 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in Englan ...
caps before signing professional forms with the Irons in 1958. After a senior debut against
Southend United
Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...
in the
Southern Floodlight Cup The Southern Professional Floodlit Cup was an association football competition played in the late 1950s, which involved clubs from London, South East England and a small number of teams from the Midlands (England), Midlands. The competition started ...
on 10 March 1958, he made his
First Division bow on 26 December 1958 against
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
. In all, Smillie played 26 games for West Ham, leaving in 1961.
Smillie went on to play League football for
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building
* ...
,
Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...
, Southend United and
Gillingham,
before joining
Folkestone Town in 1971. He later played for Ferndale.
[
]
References
External links
*
1941 births
Living people
Footballers from Ilford
English footballers
England youth international footballers
Gillingham F.C. players
West Ham United F.C. players
Crystal Palace F.C. players
Southend United F.C. players
Scunthorpe United F.C. players
English Football League players
Association football inside forwards
Folkestone F.C. players
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