Robert Smith 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 ...

. Born in Walkden, he is notable for becoming the first

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

player to make 100

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 ...

appearances.Holgate, Mike (1999). ''Torquay United Football Club 1899–1999''. Tempus Publishing.

Career

Beginning his career with his local non-League team in Walkden, Smith was then signed by

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in 1923. However, the

left half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

made only 6 appearances for City before joining non-League side Pontypridd. Smith soon made his way back into League football again after joining

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

in 1925, making his debut in a 6–2 win over Crystal Palace on 2 September 1925. Smith appeared 31 times for the Pilgrims before eventually finding himself at Plymouth's

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

neighbours Torquay United in 1928. Smith joined Torquay in time for their second season in the Football League and made his debut in a 4–1 home victory over Newport County on 22 September 1928. Eventually making the left half position his own, Smith missed only two games during the 1929–30 season and was an ever-present throughout United's 1930–31 season. It was during that season that Smith became the first Torquay player to make 100 appearances for the club during the

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 ...

Third Round match away to

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

on 10 January 1931.Edwards, Leigh; Gibbes, Jon; Lovis, John (1999). ''Torquay United, The Official Centenary History, 1899–1999''. Yore Publications. By the end of the 1931–32 season Smith had made a total of 147 appearances for Torquay, scoring 3 times. After leaving United, Smith never played League football again.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Bob People from Walkden English footballers Year of birth uncertain Association football wing halves Manchester City F.C. players Pontypridd F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players English Football League players