Frederick Gregg Smith (25 December 1942 – 26 March 2020) was an English footballer who played at full back for Burnley and Portsmouth, in the 1960s and 1970s.

Football career

In October 1968, Burnley were suffering from a loss of form, causing manager Harry Potts to call up several younger players to replace the under-performing first-choice eleven. Smith was called into the team to play West Ham United, winning 3–1. With only one change, the same eleven players went on to record eight successive victories in League and Cup matches, with John Murray scoring eight goals. In February 2009, Smith was included (at No. 60) in the list of "100 Greatest Clarets". At Portsmouth, Smith soon became a first team regular and was ever-present in 1971–72. Smith scored his only first-team goal for Portsmouth in a 6–3 victory over

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

in October 1971. Smith was with

Dallas Tornado The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons. ...

in the North American Soccer League during 1974, but did not make any appearances. Returning to England, he briefly played for Halifax Town. He died in March 2020.Former Claret Freddie Smith passes away
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Fred 1942 births 2020 deaths People from Choppington Footballers from Northumberland English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Burnley F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Dallas Tornado players Halifax Town A.F.C. players English Football League players English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate men's footballers