Harold Smith (10 March 1904 – after 1928) 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 le ...

who played as an

inside left 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 ...

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. Smith was born in

North Shields North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...

in 1904. He played local football for Cullercoats before signing for

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

for the 1925–26 season. He remained there for two seasons without playing first-team football, featuring only for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

. When Jimmy Loughlin was sold to First Division club

in May 1927, Smith and another teammate, George Robson, also made the move. He played only once for the first team, standing in for

Vivian Gibbins William Vivian Talbot Gibbins (10 August 1901 – 21 November 1979) was an English amateur footballer who played as a striker. West Ham and Clapton Born in Forest Gate, Gibbins joined West Ham United in 1923 and made his debut as an amat ...

for the home match against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

on 29 October; West Ham lost 2–1. He then returned to the north-east in August 1928 to join

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is a football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secretary before fo ...

and later played for

West Stanley South Moor is a village in County Durham, in England. It is located to the south-west of Stanley on the northern slope of the Craghead valley. It is a well-developed village, yet still semi-rural, containing a main street (Park Road) of around ...

References

1904 births Year of death missing Footballers from North Shields English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Newcastle United F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players West Stanley F.C. players English Football League players {{England-footy-forward-1900s-stub