Wallace Smith (1881 – July 1917), also known as Wally Smith, 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 for six clubs during his career, including three league clubs. Smith was born in Coventry in 1881. He moved to Northamptonshire with his family when he was five years old. He returned to West Yorkshire when he started his playing with

Rothwell Town Rothwell Town F.C. was a football club based in Rothwell in the north of Northamptonshire. They were founding members of the Northamptonshire League in 1895, and played in the United Counties League Division One until 2011–12. History The c ...

, where he was their leading goal-scorer. He moved on to

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

where he continued to find the net, scoring 23 goals in his third and final season. He moved on to Southern League side Northampton Town in 1904 for one season. He was then signed for £50 in March 1905 by

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

. He scored the only goal on his debut in a 1–0 win over

Leeds City Leeds City Football Club was the leading professional club in Leeds, England, before the First World War. It was dissolved in 1919 due to financial irregularities, after which Leeds United was established as a replacement. History The club was ...

on 2 September 1905, finishing the

1905–06 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

season as top goal-scorer with 20 goals, including a goal in the 5–0 victory against First Division Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup.Giant Killers 1906
/ref> He again topped the scoring charts for City the following season with 14 goals as City came fifth. In 1907–08 he and Frank O'Rourke formed a lethal partnership to guide City to the

Division Two NCL Division Two The NCL or National Conference League Division Two (known as the Kingstone Press NCL Division Two) League winners {, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" , - , colspan=4 style="text-align:center;" , NCL DIVISION TWO , ...

title. Smith finished with 20 goals, one behind O'Rourke, including four against

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

in an opening day 8–1 win. Smith struggled in

Division One The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

and he failed to find the net in 16 games, leaving in January 1909 for Leicester Fosse. His Leicester career lasted just six games as they finished bottom of Division One, with his former club staying up on goal average. Instead he moved to Hull City for the start of the 1909–10 season, when they narrowly missed out on promotion. Smith was forced to retire through injury in 1912 and died in his Worksop home five years later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Wallace 1881 births 1917 deaths English men's footballers English Football League players Kettering Town F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Men's association football forwards Footballers from Coventry