Sir John Wilson Smith (6 November 1920 – 31 January 1995) was the

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...

from 1973 to 1990.

Liverpool F.C.

John Smith was chairman of Liverpool Football Club for 17 years from 1973 and during this period they embarked on their most successful era. By the time he stepped down in 1990, the club had amassed eleven Football League championships, four European Cups, two

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

s and three

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 ...

s. He first joined the Liverpool board in 1971 as a director and ran the club in tandem with longtime club secretary Peter Robinson. Smith was a stout defender of

The Boot Room The Boot Room was a famous room at Anfield, the home of Liverpool F.C. From the 1960s to the early 1990s it was a meeting place where the Liverpool coaching staff would sit, drink tea and discuss the team, tactics and ways of defeating the next ...

system of promoting managers from within the club, he appointed assistant manager

Bob Paisley Robert Paisley OBE (23 January 1919 – 14 February 1996) was an English professional football manager and player who played as a wing-half. He spent almost 50 years with Liverpool and is regarded, due to his achievements with the club, ...

to succeed

Bill Shankly William Shankly (2 September 1913 – 29 September 1981) was a Scottish football player and manager, who is best known for his time as manager of Liverpool. Shankly brought success to Liverpool, gaining promotion to the First Division and winnin ...

in 1974 and followed this by appointing Paisley's assistant Joe Fagan to manager in 1983. The appointment of club centre forward

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. During his career, he made 338 appearances for Celtic F.C., Celtic and 515 for Liverpoo ...

to player manager in 1985 broke away from the line of succession but heralded in another period of unbroken success. Dalglish had been signed as a player by Smith in 1977 and was described as "the best we ever had". Smith also played a pivotal role in the acceptance of shirt sponsorship in British football in the early 1980s. As well as overseeing Liverpool's glories of the 1970s and 1980s, he also oversaw the

Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the ...

in April 1989, which claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool fans at an

semi-final tie.

Personal life

John married Doris Mabell Parfitt in 1946, to whom he had one son, Colin. He remained married to her until his death in 1995. Smith was made a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

and

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in the

1990 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1990 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

list "for services to sport".

Quotations

* "We’re a very very modest club. We don’t talk. We don’t boast. But we’re very professional" * "There is something they call, ''The Liverpool Way''" * "The ground was not good enough for an ordinary match, let alone a final."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, John Liverpool F.C. chairmen and investors Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English football chairmen and investors Association football people awarded knighthoods Knights Bachelor Liverpool F.C. non-playing staff 1920 births 1995 deaths 20th-century English businesspeople