Doug Smith (footballer, Born 1937)
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Douglas Baigrie Smith (18 November 1937 – 5 December 2012) was a Scottish
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 as a
centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
. Smith spent his entire senior career with
Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
, making over 600 appearances for the club between 1959 and 1976. He later joined the club's board of directors and was chairman from 2000 until 2002.


Early life

Doug Smith was born in
Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
, one of four brothers. Two of the others would also go on to play senior football:
Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...
, who played for
Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
, Rangers and
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, and Hugh, who played for
Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...
and Greenock Morton.


Playing career

Smith began his career with local
junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...
team Aberdeen Lads Club, while also serving an apprenticeship as a painter and decorator. Initially a
right-half A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...
, alongside
Ron Yeats Ronald Yeats (born 15 November 1937) is a Scottish former association footballer. He was a key defender in the rejuvenation of Dundee United in the early 1960s. He then spent a decade at Liverpool captaining them to six trophies in the mid-1960 ...
at
centre-half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
, he converted to the latter position when Yeats was signed by
Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
in 1957. After completing his apprenticeship, Smith also signed for Dundee United in 1958, where he would spend his entire senior career. With Yeats established in the first team despite being on
national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...
, Smith initially played in the reserves, making his first team debut in September 1959 when Yeats' army duties meant he was unavailable for a midweek match. Yeats was transferred to
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
in 1961, allowing Smith to establish himself in the first team, and he went to miss only four matches over the next ten seasons. He helped Dundee United become established in the top division of Scottish football, qualifying for European competition for the first time in 1966, and was part of the team that defeated
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
home and away in United's European debut. By the 1970–71 season, Smith had become the teams's captain and also their regular penalty taker. He captained United to the 1974 Scottish Cup Final, their first appearance in the final, where they lost 3–0 to
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
; that runners-up medal was the closest Smith came to winning a major honour. Smith made his final appearance for Dundee United in January 1976. In total, he appeared in 628 competitive matches for the club, never receiving a
booking Booking may refer to: * Making an appointment for a meeting or gathering, as part of event planning/scheduling * The intake or admission process into a prison or psychiatric facility. * ''Booking'' (manhwa), a Korean comics anthology magazine pub ...
throughout his playing career.


Administrative career

Smith returned to Dundee United in 1983, when he was invited to join the club's board of directors. In 1992, Smith was elected as vice-chairman, under chairman
Jim McLean James Yuille McLean (2 August 1937 – 26 December 2020) was a Scottish football player, manager and director. He managed Dundee United between 1971 and 1993, becoming the longest-serving and most successful manager in the club's history, winni ...
. Smith became chairman in October 2000 following McLean's resignation, although the latter retained his majority shareholding. In January 2002, a consortium involving McLean ousted the existing board at an extraordinary general meeting, leading to the end of Smith's 44-year association with the club. As well as his club commitments, Smith served on various
Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...
(SFA) and
Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...
(SFL) committees and was appointed as president of the SFL for a term beginning in 1997.


Outside football and legacy

After retiring as a player, Smith ran the Athletic Bar, a pub near Dundee United's
Tannadice Park Tannadice Park ( gd, Pàirc Thanachais), usually referred to as Tannadice, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland. It is the home ground of Dundee United F.C., who have played at Tannadice since the club was founded as Dundee Hibernian in ...
ground. He was one of the first inductees to the Dundee United Hall of Fame in 2008. He died in
Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
on 5 December 2012, aged 75. His wife May had died earlier; the couple had three children.


Honours

Dundee United *
Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1973–74


See also

*
List of one-club men in association football : A one-club man is a sportsman who has played his entire professional career with only one club. The term is often used in the context of team sports such as football or rugby. Retired players :''Players must have been at their club for a mi ...
*
List of Scottish football families This is a list of Scottish football (soccer) families. ;Families included on the list must have: # at least, one member of the family is capped by a national team on the senior level or an important person in the game of football (e.g., notable ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Doug 1937 births 2012 deaths Footballers from Aberdeen Scottish men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Scottish Football League players Dundee United F.C. players Dundee United F.C. directors and chairmen Chairmen and investors of football clubs in Scotland United Soccer Association players Dallas Tornado players Scottish Football League Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Scottish expatriate men's footballers 20th-century Scottish businesspeople