Robert William Smith (born 14 March 1944) is an English former

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 ...

and football

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. He was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

by England at Schoolboys and

Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Yo ...

level. He is the son of Conway Smith and grandson of Billy Smith, from whom he gets his middle name. A

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

player for Manchester United, he moved on to Scunthorpe United in 1965, where he established himself in the first team. Moving on to

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

in 1967, he

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies ...

red to

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

the following year. In 1971, he signed with

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...

via Chester, before he finished his playing career with

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 ...

in 1973. Appointing as Bury's manager in 1973, he led the club to

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

out of the Football League Fourth Division in 1973–74, before he was sacked in November 1977. Quickly installed as

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

manager, he moved on to

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

the following year, having failed to prevent the club from suffering

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

. Despite some promising league campaigns and cup runs he was sacked in October 1980. Spending time as a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

at Blackpool, he returned to management in 1985 with Newport County, as the club were in financial meltdown; he departed the following year. Remaining in the game as a coach at Cardiff City,

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

, and Swansea City, he was appointed manager at Swansea in 1995. However, he resigned after less than three months in charge, and took up a role in the back-room staff at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

Club career

Smith began his career with Manchester United, turning professional in April 1961. He made over 200 appearances for the United reserve team, but Matt Busby did not give him his First Division debut. Smith left Old Trafford in March 1965 to join Scunthorpe United. Under

Fred Goodwin Frederick Anderson Goodwin FRSE FCIBS (born 17 August 1958) is a Scottish chartered accountant and former banker who was Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) between 2001 and 2009. From 2000 to 2008, he pre ...

, the "Iron" finished the 1964–65 campaign in 18th place in the Third Division. They rose to fourth in 1965–66, still 12 points short of a

place, before they dropped to 18th in 1966–67. Smith moved to

, for a fee of £8,000, but failed to prevent

Don McEvoy Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

's "Mariners" from slipping into the Fourth Division in 1967–68. Smith remained in the Third Division, signing with

Freddie Goodwin Freddie Goodwin (28 June 1933 – 19 February 2016) was an English professional football player and manager. He also played county cricket for Lancashire. Career A wing half, Goodwin was signed as a trainee from Cheshire Schoolboys by Manchest ...

in June 1968. The "Seagulls" finished 12th in 1968–69, before rising to fifth in 1969–70, only five points shy of the promotion places. Goodwin chided the

Goldstone Ground The Goldstone Ground (or The Goldstone) was a football stadium in Hove, East Sussex that was the home ground of Brighton & Hove Albion between 1902 and 1997. History The Goldstone Ground stood on Old Shoreham Road, Hove, opposite Hove Park ...

supporters for barracking Smith in January 1970, writing in the

matchday programme A matchday programme or match programme is a booklet associated with a live sporting event which details the proposed starting lineup and other details of the match. To some spectators, the purchase of a matchday programme is part of the "ritua ...

that "he has done nothing to warrant this behaviour". Brighton dropped down to 14th-place in 1970–71 under Pat Saward. In June 1971, Smith signed with Ken Roberts's Chester on a free transfer. He moved to

– initially on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

– in October of that year. Both teams struggled at the foot of the Football League, with

Len Ashurst Leonard Ashurst (10 March 1939 – 25 September 2021) was an English football player, manager and administrator. He spent most of his playing career with Sunderland, making 458 appearances, the second most in the club's history. He retired a ...

's "Pools" finishing just above the re-election places in 1971–72 and 1972–73. In August 1973, he moved to

as player-

, but failed to appear in their league side.

International career

Smith won six caps for England Schoolboys and played twice for the England youth-team: in a 1–0 loss to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

on 9 March 1961, and a 2–0 defeat to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

in Flensburg three days later.

Style of play

Smith was a tough-

tackling Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking up ...

midfielder 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 ...

with aggression but limited technical skill.

Managerial and coaching career

Bury

Smith began his managerial career with Bury in November 1973, taking over from Allan Brown. At the age of 29 he was the youngest

in the Football League. He had initial success, guiding Bury to promotion from the Fourth Division in the fourth automatic place at the end of the 1973–74 season. He stabilised the

Gigg Lane Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, G ...

outfit in the Third Division in 1974–75 with a 14th-place finish. They went on to finish 13th in 1975–76, before finishing five points off the promotion places in 1976–77. He was sacked by Bury on 16 November 1977 after a poor start to the season. The "Shakers" finished the 1977–78 campaign in 15th place under the stewardship of

Bob Stokoe Robert Stokoe (21 September 1930 – 1 February 2004) was an English footballer and manager who was able, almost uniquely, to transcend the traditional north-east animosity between the region's footballing rivals, Newcastle United and Sunderlan ...

Port Vale

A day after leaving Bury he was appointed as manager of

. He replaced club legend

Roy Sproson Roy Sproson (23 September 1930 – 24 January 1997) was an English footballer and football manager for Port Vale. A one-club man, he holds the all-time appearance record for Vale, making 837 starts (and 5 substitute appearances) for Vale ...

, and was given a large war chest to spend after a successful lottery scheme was set up at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

. He took over with the club in 21st place in the Third Division. His first game in charge was a 0–0 draw with Midland Counties League side Arnold in the First Round of 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 ...

. In January, veteran defender

Graham Hawkins Graham Norman Hawkins (5 March 1946 – 27 September 2016) was an English football player and manager. During a sixteen year playing career in the English Football League he made a total of 502 league and cup appearances, scoring eleven goals. ...

was signed as a player-coach from

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

for £6,000. Forward Neville Chamberlain also joined the club as a professional, becoming the club's first

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

pro. John Froggatt also joined the club, signing from

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

for £10,000. Chairman Arthur McPherson celebrated this abandonment of frugality by declaring "we are going places". Local journalist Chris Harper slated the board for their decisions, calling them 'berserk'. Froggatt scored fifteen seconds into his debut in a 4–0 win over

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. However this would be as good as it got for both Froggatt and Vale that season. In February, Vale beat

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profes ...

in a friendly, but also started a five games sequence without a win. Ged Stenson arrived the next month from Everton for a 'bargain' £3,000, and John Lumsdon joined on loan from Stoke City. Vale improved, and were unbeaten in six of their seven March games, with Chamberlain scoring on his debut. Yet on 28 March they started a club-record streak of twelve home games without a win that would continue into the following season. Encouragement came from the

youth team In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future i ...

, who reached the Quarter Finals of the FA Youth Cup. With four games to go, Vale were one point clear of the drop, however by losing all of their remaining games the "Valiants" ended the 1977–78 season in 21st place and were

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

into the Fourth Division. Smith was appointed as manager of

in May 1978, with the club having to pay a compensation fee of £10,500 to Port Vale. His assistant,

Dennis Butler Dennis Anthony Butler (born 24 June 1944) is an English former football player and manager. He played as a winger for Bolton Wanderers between 1959 and 1968, before ending his playing career following a five-year spell at Rochdale. Later wor ...

, stayed on at the club and was appointed as his successor.

Swindon Town

Despite still being a relatively young manager, Smith guided Swindon to a Third Division promotion challenge in his first season in charge - missing out by three points after losing the last two games of the season. His two signings, Alan Mayes and

Andy Rowland Andrew Arthur Rowland (born 8 September 1954) is an English former footballer who played for Derby County, Bury and Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team cu ...

, formed a deadly strike partnership, and were both selected on the PFA Team of the Year. The following season Swindon beat Stoke City, Wimbledon and Arsenal to reach the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

semi-final. They lost out to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

when Wolves scored the winner five minutes from the end of the second leg. However Town squandered a promising league position to finish the campaign in tenth place. During the campaign his team recorded an 8–0 win over former club

. Having spent large amounts of money, particularly on £150,000 left-back David Peach and £110,000 midfielder

Glenn Cockerill Glenn Cockerill (born 25 August 1959) is an English retired footballer who played more than 700 games in The Football League in a 22-year career. He was a skilled central midfielder renowned for his passing and shooting skills. Playing career Co ...

, expectations were high at Swindon for the 1980–81 season. However, Smith was sacked in October 1980 after Swindon lost their first five games and were stuck in the relegation zone. They finished the campaign in 17th place under the stewardship of John Trollope.

Newport County

In 1981, he joined the coaching staff at Blackpool and in July 1982 moved to be a coach at Newport County. He was appointed manager of Newport in June 1985, and kept the club rooted to 18th in the Third Division in 1985–86, before a run of seven straight defeats saw the club hovering above the relegation places and ultimately cost him his job. His replacement John Relish managed to steer the club to safety.

Coaching

He coached Cardiff City between 1989 and July 1990 after being brought to the club by manager

Frank Burrows Frank Burrows (30 January 1944 – 24 November 2021) was a Scottish football player and manager who played as a central defender. Life and career Frank Burrows began his football career at Scottish club Raith Rovers. In 1965 he moved south to ...

. Later that year he became assistant manager to

Colin Addison Colin Addison (born 18 May 1940) is an English former professional footballer and manager. Born in Taunton, Somerset, Addison started his playing career with York City before moving to Nottingham Forest, Arsenal and Sheffield United. His man ...

. He joined the coaching staff at Swansea City in March 1991, and the following year manager Frank Burrows appointed him as his assistant. In October 1995 he became manager of Swansea after the departure of Burrows, but resigned just 80 days later in December of the same year. A playing revolt at

Vetch Field The Vetch Field was a football stadium in Swansea, Wales. It was used for football matches and was the home ground of Swansea City until the club moved to the newly built Liberty Stadium in 2005. Opened in 1912, the ground held around 12,000 ...

led to the resignation of his replacement, Kevin Cullis, before the "Swans" finished 1995–96 in the

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 ...

relegation zone under the stewardship of

Jan Mølby Jan Mølby (; born 4 July 1963) is a Danish former professional footballer and manager. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1982 to 1998. After starting his career with Kolding, he moved on to Ajax before spending twelve years playing in Engl ...

. In 1996 Smith was appointed to the coaching staff at

David Pleat David John Pleat (born 15 January 1945) is an English football player turned manager, and sports commentator. Pleat made 185 Football League appearances for five clubs, scoring 26 goals. He had two spells as manager of Luton Town, and four as ...

, where he performed a variety of roles before leaving in the summer of 1999.

Career statistics

Playing statistics

Source: :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

English Football League play-offs The English Football League play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the four association football teams finishing immediately below the automatic promotion places in the second, third and fourth tiers of the English football league ...

and

Full Members Cup The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. Th ...

Managerial statistics

Source:

Honours

Bury * Football League Fourth Division fourth-place promotion: 1973–74

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Bobby 1944 births Living people People from Prestbury, Cheshire Footballers from Cheshire English men's footballers England men's schools international footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football inside forwards Manchester United F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Bury F.C. players English Football League players Bury F.C. non-playing staff English football managers Bury F.C. managers Port Vale F.C. managers Swindon Town F.C. managers Newport County A.F.C. managers Cardiff City F.C. non-playing staff Hereford United F.C. non-playing staff Swansea City A.F.C. non-playing staff Swansea City A.F.C. managers English Football League managers Association football coaches Sheffield Wednesday F.C. non-playing staff