Alex Smith (29 October 1938 – 28 November 2023) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

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 lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

in the 1960s and 1970s, notably with

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of English football league system. They replaced Halifax Town, who went i ...

. He was the

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

goalkeeper in all their games in the 1961–62 season, but following their resignation from the league, their results were expunged and he is not shown officially to have played any league games for them. After Accrington's demise he moved to

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

, and then on to Halifax Town for whom he made over 300 league appearances. His final league club was

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

. He later became the goalkeeping coach at Bolton's academy, leaving the club in 2009, where he went on to take over the day to day running of his family business, the Bolton Bed Centre

References

External links

Halifax Town Team Photo 1971
1938 births Footballers from Lancaster, Lancashire Men's association football goalkeepers English Football League players Accrington Stanley F.C. (1891) players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players English men's footballers {{England-footy-goalkeeper-1930s-stub 2023 deaths