Bertram "Bert" Smith (6 March 1892 – 12 September 1969) 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 ...

, who played for

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. Th ...

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 ...

and played international football 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 ...

Career

Smith was born in

Higham, Kent Higham is a large village, civil parish and electoral ward in the borough of Gravesham in Kent, England. The village lies just north-west of Strood, in the Medway unitary authority, and south-east of Gravesend. The civil parish had a population ...

and initially played for a number of lower league sides (Vanbrugh Park, Crawford United, Metrogas) as well as playing for an Army side, before making it into the top flight of football with Huddersfield Town. He played at right half and transferred to Spurs on 19 August 1921. During his time at the club he made 319 appearances and scored ten goals in all competitions. The highlight of his Spurs career was collecting a winners' medal in the

1921 FA Cup Final The 1921 FA Cup Final was contested by Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers, which at the time was a Football League Second Division club, at Stamford Bridge. Spurs won by a single goal, scored by Jimmy Dimmock, eight minutes into the s ...

. He also took part in a number of fiercely fought matches with local rivals Arsenal. In the match in September 1922 a major fracas broke out after a Spurs goal. The reporter from The Sunday Evening Telegram recorded that:

"After the Spurs goal came the most disgraceful scene I have witnessed on any ground at any time. Players pulled the referee, blows with fists were exchanged, and all the dignity that appertains in the referee was rudely trampled on." In the aftermath, following a Commission of Inquiry, Tottenham's Bert Smith was found to have used "filthy language" and suspended for a month. Arsenal's Alex Graham was censured for retaliating instead of reporting matters to the ref, and Stephen Dunn (Arsenal's goalkeeper) for his conduct after Tottenham's goal was allowed to stand."

Smith's international career comprised two games for England. He debuted on 9 April 1921 against

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 ...

and played his second match against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

on 13 March 1922. Smith finished his career at Spurs in May 1931 when he joined Northfleet United F.C. a club affiliated with Tottenham, as a coach. In later years he went on to be coach/trainer at Young Boys in Switzerland, Harwich and Parkeston, Hitchin and

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...

Career statistics

International

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Bert 1892 births 1969 deaths English footballers England international footballers People from Gravesham (district) Association football wing halves English Football League players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players English Football League representative players Metrogas F.C. players People from Higham, Kent FA Cup Final players