William Smith (c. 1931 – 24 April 2009) was a Scottish footballer who played as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, primarily for Aberdeen. He was a regular in the team which won the club's first

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

championship in the 1954–55 season, although towards the end of that campaign he broke a leg in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup against Clyde, and was out of action for 18 months. He had also played at the same stage in the

1952–53 Scottish Cup The 1952–53 Scottish Cup was the 68th staging of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Rangers who defeated Aberdeen in the replayed final. First round Replays Second round Replays Third round ...

to help Aberdeen progress, but was not selected for the final which they lost to

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

after a replay (the veteran

Davie Shaw David Shaw (5 May 1917 – 20 January 1977) was a Scottish professional football player, coach and manager. Playing career Shaw was a left back who played for Hibernian before and after World War II, including an appearance in the 1946� ...

taking the position in what were his last appearances before retirement). In

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

the ''Dons'' reached the showpiece event again – being defeated by Celtic – but that season David Caldwell was generally first choice. After being released by Aberdeen in 1957, Smith later played for Third Lanark and for Deveronvale in the Highland League before emigrating to South Africa.Billy Smith
The Herald, 18 May 2009Billy Smith
AFC Heritage Trust

Career statistics

References

1931 births 2009 deaths Year of birth uncertain Date of birth unknown Footballers from Aberdeen Scottish men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Aberdeen F.C. players Third Lanark A.C. players Deveronvale F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish Football League players Highland Football League players Scottish emigrants to South Africa {{Scotland-footy-defender-1930s-stub