Robert Alfred Smith (22 February 1933 – 18 September 2010) was an English
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 ...
who played as a
centre-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 ...
for
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
,
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
,
Brighton and 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 leag ...
and
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 finished as the
First Division's top scorer in the
1957–58 season and he is
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
's 3rd highest ever goal scorer with 208 goals.
Club career
Smith was born in
Lingdale,
North Riding of Yorkshire, and was spotted by
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
when playing for Redcar Boys' Club, where he had originally started out as a full back. He signed professional for the London club in 1950.
[''Soccer Who's Who'' compiled by Maurice Golesworthy, The Sportsmans Book Club London 1965] He scored 23 League goals in 74 appearances, and seven FA Cup goals in twelve appearances. He was part of the
1954–55 Chelsea side that won the
First Division, though he only made four appearances that season.
Despite the fact he never really became established as a regular with Chelsea between 1950 and 1955,
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
paid £18,000 for his transfer in December 1955.
Smith was an integral part of
Bill Nicholson's famous
double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* ...
winning Tottenham team of
1960–61. He was Tottenham's top scorer in the double-winning season, with 33 goals scored in 43 games, including the first of the two goals in the
1961 FA Cup Final
The 1961 FA Cup Final was the 80th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 6 May 1961 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City.
Tottenham won the match 2–0, with Bobby Smith and Terry Dyson scoring ...
. The team also went on to retain 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
1962
Events January
* January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand.
* January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism.
* January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...
(scoring in the Final again) and win the
1963 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. He is one of Spurs' all-time top goal scorers, third behind Harry Kane and to
Jimmy Greaves
James Peter Greaves (20 February 1940 – 19 September 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Greaves is regarded as one of England’s best ever players. He is England's fifth-highest international goalscorer ...
, with 208 goals scored in 317 senior matches, including 12 hat-tricks.
Smith played for
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 ...
from 1964 to 1965, scoring 19 goals in 31 appearances.
International career
Smith won 15 full international caps for the
England national team which included two goals in the 9–3 defeat of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
at Wembley in 1961. He played for England from 1960 to 1963, scoring 13 goals.
Post-playing career
Smith published a book in 2002 to celebrate his achievements, ''Memories of Spurs'', with a foreword by Jimmy Greaves.
He died on 18 September 2010 following a short illness at a hospital in
Enfield
Enfield may refer to:
Places Australia
* Enfield, New South Wales
* Enfield, South Australia
** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb
** Enfield High School (South Australia)
...
, London.
Bobby Smith THFC official website
Accessed 11 June 2013
Honours
Tottenham Hotspur
* Football League First Division: 1960–61
*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 ...
: 1960–61, 1961–62
* FA Community Shield: 1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 (K ...
, 1962
Events January
* January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand.
* January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism.
* January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...
*UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...
: 1962–63
Brighton & Hove Albion
* Football League Fourth Division: 1964–65
References
External links
Bobby Smith's book 'My Memories of Spurs'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Bobby
1933 births
People from Lingdale
2010 deaths
English footballers
England international footballers
Association football forwards
Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players
Chelsea F.C. players
Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players
Hastings United F.C. (1948) players
1958 FIFA World Cup players
English Football League players
First Division/Premier League top scorers
London XI players
Footballers from North Yorkshire
FA Cup Final players