Alexander Smith (7 November 1875 – 12 November 1954) 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 ...

who played as an

outside left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for Rangers and the Scotland national team.

Career

Born in

Darvel Darvel ( sco, Dairvel, gd, Darbhail) is a small town in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It is at the eastern end of the Irvine Valley and is sometimes referred to as "The Lang Toon" ( en, the Long Town). The town's Latin motto, , means "Not for ou ...

, Ayrshire, Smith signed for Rangers in April 1894 from local side Darvel F.C., having been introduced at the suggestion of

Nicol Smith Nicol Smith (25 December 1873 – 6 January 1905) was a Scottish people, Scottish Association football, footballer who played for Rangers F.C., Rangers. Born in Darvel, Ayrshire, Smith played as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, ful ...

(a defender who had made the same move a year earlier and came from the same village, but was not a relation). He stayed with the Ibrox club for 21 years until retiring in 1915, was part of Rangers' treble-winning ( Scottish Football League title,

Glasgow Cup The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rul ...

and

Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup The Glasgow Merchants' Charity Cup was a knockout football tournament open to teams from in and around Glasgow and later on in the tournament's history, teams from outwith Glasgow. Invitations were made and sent out by the Glasgow Charity Cu ...

) teams of 1896–97, 1899–1900 and 1910–11, and played in 69 of the club's 74 matches during their run of four consecutive championships from 1898 to 1902. In total he made 642 competitive appearances for his only professional club (the fourth-highest tally in their long history) and scored 200 goals. Smith received 20

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 Scotland during his career, as well as representing the

Scottish Football League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

14 times. He returned to his native Darvel at the end of his footballing career, to work in a lace-making business in which he was a partner.

Honours

Rangers *

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

(7): 1898–99, 1899–1900, 1900–01, 1901–02, 1910–11, 1911–12, 1912–13 ** Runner-up 1895–96, 1897–98,

1904–05 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 ...

, 1913–14 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1896–97, 1897–98,

1902–03 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 ...

**Finalist 1898–99,

1903–04 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 ...

, 1908–09 *

(8): 1896–97, 1897–98, 1899–1900, 1900–01, 1901–02, 1910–11, 1911–12, 1912–13 *

(7): 1896–97, 1899–1900, 1903–04, 1905–06, 1906–07, 1908–09, 1910–11

References

External links

*
Profile at London Hearts website
1875 births Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Association football wingers Rangers F.C. players 1954 deaths Footballers from East Ayrshire Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Darvel F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players {{Scotland-footy-midfielder-1870s-stub