Walter Ernest Smith (25 March 1884 – 1972) was an English

football goalkeeper Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ca ...

who played for

Leicester Fosse Leicester City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Leicester in the East Midlands of England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home ...

and

Manchester City 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 Salford to the west. The tw ...

before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and played for

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

, and

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

after the war. He helped Manchester City to win the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

title in 1909–10.

Career

Smith played for Leicester Imperial and

, before joining

for £600 in June 1906. He made 22 First Division and two

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 ...

appearances in

1906–07 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 ...

. He was then an ever-present in the 44 game 1907–08 campaign, as the "Citizens" finished third in the league, some nine points behind

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

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 ...

. He featured 39 times in the 1908–09 relegation season. He only played three games however, in the 1909–10 campaign, as City won promotion as champions of the

. He then won back his first team place at Hyde Road, playing 33 matches in the 1910–11 season. He featured just 12 times in 1911–12, as he shared goalkeeping duties with Augustus Beeby and Jim Goodchild. He featured just 13 times in the 1912–13 season, as Goodchild established himself as the club's preferred stopper. Smith regained his place in 1913–14, missing just two of City's 44 matches. He played 41 games in 1914–15, in the last season before

put a temporary halt to 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 ...

. He made 13 appearances in the 1915–16, 1916–17, and 1918–19 wartime leagues. He also guested for

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and Leicester Fosse during the war. At the end of hostilities, Goodchild became City's number one, and limited Smith to nine appearances in 1919–20. He joined Second Division

in October 1920 for a 'modest' fee. However, the morning of his debut game on

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

on 23 October he was arrested on assault charges against a

chambermaid A maid, or housemaid or maidservant, is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era domestic service was the second largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids ...

at the hotel where the team had spent the night. After being released on bail he played the game with a detective standing in the crowd, possibly distracting the team as they went on to lose 6–1. He was found not guilty at his trial in November 1920 and went on to have a successful career with the club. He featured 29 times in the 1920–21 season, ahead of back-up goalkeepers Alfred Bourne and Jonathan Hammond. He played 13 games in the 1921–22 campaign, before he seriously injured his leg in a 4–1 defeat by

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

Highfield Road Highfield Road was a football stadium in the city of Coventry, England. It was the home ground for Coventry City F.C. for 106 years. History It was built in 1899 in the Hillfields district, close to the city centre, and staged its final game o ...

on 31 December.

Teddy Peers Edward John Peers (31 December 1886 – 20 September 1935) was a Wales international football goalkeeper. He won 12 caps for Wales and spent 1911 to 1921 at Wolverhampton Wanderers and then January 1922 to May 1923 at Port Vale. Career Peers p ...

was signed to take his place, and Smith failed to regain his first team place upon his recovery. He was released at the end of the season, but despite being 38 did not retire. Instead he moved on to

and later turned out for

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Manchester City *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

: 1909–10

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Walter 1884 births 1972 deaths Footballers from Leicester English footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Leicester City F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Fulham F.C. wartime guest players Leicester City F.C. wartime guest players Port Vale F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players English Football League players English Football League representative players