Pat Smith (November 10, 1923 – December 7, 2009) was a British-American

soccer referee In association football, the referee is the person responsible for interpreting and enforcing the Laws of the Game during a match. The referee is the final decision-making authority on all facts connected with play, and is the match official ...

who was one of the founders of the U.S. Soccer national referee program and served as the first president of the National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association.

Officiating career

Collegiate.

Smith officiated at the collegiate level for 15 years. While there, he officiated hundreds of collegiate games including six NAIA semifinals, numerous

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

semifinals, and two NCAA men's finals.

Professional.

When the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

was formed in 1967 and Eddie Pearson was brought over from England to train referees, Pat was one of the first people selected to officiate in the league. He refereed the first game in Fenway Park and officiated two "bronze boot" games in St. Louis.

Referee administration

Pat Smith was elected to serve as the first president of the then newly formed Ohio Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association in 1970. In 1972, he was elected and served as first president of the newly formed National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association (NISOA). In 1970, Mr. Smith was appointed Director of Officials for the American Soccer League (ASL), the second division professional soccer in the United States at the time, a position he held until 1978. When Eddie Pearson began building the national referee program for U.S. Soccer, he naturally recruited Smith (and Bob Evans) to assist with its development.

Coaching

Smith helped launch the men's soccer program at the University of Ohio at Dayton in 1958 and served as its first coach.

Contributions

Many of the officials who represented U.S. Soccer as International (

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

) referees credit Smith with their success. Among these officials are Robert (Bob) Evans (also U.S. Soccer's former National Director of Referee Instruction), Edward Bellion, Alfred Kleinatis (also U.S. Soccer's former Manager of Referee Development),

Brian Hall (referee) Brian Hall (born June 5, 1961) is an American former soccer referee from northern California. He started his professional career as an assistant referee in the NASL at age 19. Hall was a FIFA referee from 1992 until he retired in 2007 at the mand ...

(

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typese ...

Director of Referees), Raul Dominguez, and Zimmerman Boulos.

Honors and awards

Pat Smith was the first recipient o
U.S. Soccer's Eddie Pearson award
which he was awarded in 1979 for his contribution to soccer officiating in the United States. In 1998, he was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

United States Adult Soccer Association (U.S.A.S.A.), Region II Pat Smith Award

The Region II division of the United Statues Adult Soccer Association, the amateur division of U.S. Soccer serving adult players, established the Pat Smith Award, given annually to an official in region II who has made significant contributions to soccer officiating at the adult level in region II.

Patrick Smith Memorial Scholarship

A soccer scholarship has been established in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Pat 1923 births 2009 deaths English football referees American soccer referees National Soccer Hall of Fame members British emigrants to the United States