John Smith (12 August 1855 – 16 November 1934) 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 ...

of the 1870s and 1880s. He is also notable for playing

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

and was a member of the first British Lions team that toured Australia and New Zealand in 1888.

Football career

Club career

Smith began playing football at Mauchline F.C. before transferring to

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

while he studied. After completing his studies in the early 1880s he joined Queen's Park, where he won the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a Scottish Cup final when he scored all three of Queen's Park's goals in the 1881 final replay against

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

. He was not selected to play in the 1882 final and no match took place in 1884 – Queen's Park were awarded the trophy after

Vale of Leven The Vale of Leven (Scottish Gaelic: ''Magh Leamhna'') is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning ' ...

failed to appear. In 1884 Smith was part of the Queen's Park team that reached the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

, losing 2–1 to

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

. Whilst at Queen's Park, he also finished second in the 100 yards at the inaugural Scottish Athletics Championships of

1883 Events January–March * January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. * January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. * Ja ...

. Smith often played under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

J.C. Miller and J.S. Miller. He also played occasionally as a guest for the Corinthians, Swifts and Liverpool Ramblers. He was banned from playing for or against any Scottish club or for the Scottish national team in 1885 after he played for Corinthians against a professional English club, thus breaching the Scottish Football Association's amateur regulations.

International career

Smith earned ten

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

in total for the

Scotland national football team The Scotland national football team gd, Sgioba Ball-coise Nàiseanta na h-Alba sco, Scotland National Fitbaa Team represents Scotland in men's international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the thr ...

, scoring 10 goals. His first four appearances were as a Mauchline player – he was the sole club representative to have been selected for international duty. In what proved to be his final appearance before being banished by the governing body, he scored the only goal of the match as Scotland defeated

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 ...

to secure the

1883–84 British Home Championship The 1883–84 British Home Championship was the inaugural international football tournament, played between the Home Nations of the British Isles which at the time made up the constituent nations of the United Kingdom; England, Scotland, Wales a ...

(the first edition of the competition).

International goals

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.''

Referee

Smith sometimes officiated as a football referee.

Rugby Union career

As well as football, Smith also played

. He played as a forward for

and

Edinburgh Wanderers Edinburgh Wanderers is a former rugby union club, founded in 1868. It was latterly a tenant of the Scottish Rugby Union, playing home fixtures at Murrayfield Stadium for nearly 75 years. In 1997 it merged with Murrayfield RFC to form Murrayfie ...

, and was capped by Edinburgh District in 1876 and by East of Scotland District the following year. In 1876 Smith was a reserve for the

Scottish national rugby team The Scotland national rugby union team represents Scotland in men's international rugby union and is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship and participates in the Rugby World Cup, w ...

. In 1888 he was selected as a member of the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

team to tour New Zealand and Australia (this squad contained few full internationals as the national bodies perceived it akin to a professional enterprise and refused to sanction it). His skills as a player were called upon on nine occasions, though he failed to score in any of the matches. His primary role on the 1888 tour was to act as the team's referee.

Medical career

As a physician, he practised in Brycehall, Kirkcaldy.

References

External links

*
Profile
at

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, John 1855 births 1934 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Men's association football inside forwards British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland Corinthian F.C. players East of Scotland District players Edinburgh District (rugby union) players Edinburgh University A.F.C. players Edinburgh University RFC players Edinburgh Wanderers RFC players Liverpool Ramblers A.F.C. players Queen's Park F.C. players Rugby union fullbacks People from Mauchline Scotland men's international footballers Scottish football referees Scottish men's footballers Scottish rugby union players Swifts F.C. players Sportspeople from East Ayrshire