William Henry Smith (23 May 1895 – 13 April 1951) was a 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 most of his career at

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

. He is one of Huddersfield's all-time top goal-scorers with 126 goals in his career between 1913 and 1934. Smith scored Huddersfield's winning goal in the

1922 FA Cup Final The 1922 FA Cup Final was contested by Huddersfield Town and Preston North End at Stamford Bridge. Huddersfield won by a single goal, a penalty scored by Billy Smith. Overview This was the last final before the opening of Wembley Stadium, and ...

against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

. He also won three caps for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was also the first person ever to score from a corner in a match against

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 ...

in October 1924. He made 574 appearances for the Terriers, scoring 126 goals.

Career

For a Huddersfield legend, the story opened in an unlikely manner. It was September 1913 when at a board meeting a letter of W.H. Smith of Tantobie in County Durham was discussed. The content of the note was short and to the point for the writer made it clear he was not prepared to accept terms of less than 50/- a week (£2.50) and for that reason did not wish to present himself to further trials. During a Division I match against Stoke he had a fight with a Stoke player. They were both sent off and it meant they would both miss a game. This caused Smith to miss the

1920 FA Cup Final The 1920 FA Cup Final, the first since the end of the First World War, was contested by Aston Villa and Huddersfield at Stamford Bridge. Aston Villa won 1–0, with the goal coming in extra time from Billy Kirton, to clinch the trophy for a reco ...

against Aston Villa. After Huddersfield went on appeal he would miss the next league game. Huddersfield lost the cup final 1-0 as

Billy Kirton William John Kirton (2 December 1896 – 27 September 1970) was a footballer in the early years of professional football in England, who played over 200 games for Aston Villa and is best known for scoring the only goal in the 1920 FA Cup Final ...

scored in extra time. In the 2nd half of the 1922 F.A. Cup final, Smith was brought down on the edge of the area. The referee pointed to the spot. Smith, shaken stepped up himself to take the penalty. Preston goalkeeper Mitchell jumped around on his line in attempt to distract Smith but

Clem Stephenson Clement Stephenson (6 February 1890 – 24 October 1961) was an English footballer whose 20-year career at Aston Villa and Huddersfield Town included success in both the FA Cup and League Championship. Stephenson's place in history as an inside ...

said, "Never mind the dancing devil, just shove it in the net. Smith did." Smith was a key member of the team that won a hattrick of First Division titles under Herbert Chapman and Cecil Potter and in the final championship year (in 1926) received his first England cap. He was one of five Huddersfield players who played in the "

Wembley Wizards The Wembley Wizards is the nickname for the Scotland national football team that crushed England 5–1 at Wembley in the 1928 British Home Championship. Background Scotland had failed to win either of their previous matches in the 1928 British ...

" 5–1 defeat of England. He, Bob Kelly,

Roy Goodall Frederick Roy Goodall (31 December 1902 – 19 January 1982) was a professional footballer, who played for Huddersfield Town for 16 years and played 25 games for England, 12 as captain. Goodall would have captained England in the first ever Wor ...

and Tom Wilson played for England, and Alex Jackson for Scotland; Jackson scored a hat-trick, while Kelly scored a consolation for England in the 89th minute. On 11 November 1933 he received his fourth benefit from the president of the football league. He later had a small player - manager stint at Rochdale.

Later life

He faded out from the game in the 1940s and died of cancer in 1951, after having his left leg amputated due to a mistreated football injury. He and his son

Conway Smith William Conway Smith (13 July 1926 – 1989) was an English footballer born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, who played as an inside forward for Huddersfield Town, Queens Park Rangers and Halifax Town in the Football League, and in non-league footbal ...

were the first father and son to score 100 goals each. His grandson Robert played in the last ever match at the

Leeds Road Leeds Road was a association football, football stadium in Huddersfield, England. It operated from its construction in 1908 until the Kirklees Stadium was opened nearby for the 1994–95 in English football, 1994–95 season. It was the home of ...

ground before it was knocked down.

Honours

Huddersfield Town *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

: 1921–22 * First Division (3): 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

References

Sources

"Huddersfield Town - 75 Years On. A book by George S. Binns."

External links

Profile on www.englandstats.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Billy 1895 births 1951 deaths People from Tantobie Footballers from County Durham English footballers English football managers England international footballers Association football wingers English Football League players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. managers English Football League representative players Rochdale A.F.C. players FA Cup Final players