Arthur Robert Smith (16 February 1872 – 20 July 1961) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played for the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...

in the years leading up to and following the formation of the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL).

Playing career

Smith, who was recruited from Richmond, was Collingwood's main target up forward during his career. He made his VFL debut in Collingwood's inaugural VFL game, against St Kilda in round one,

1897 Events January * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a punitive expedit ...

, and went on to top the club goal-kicking in each of his first four seasons. Smith's tally of 31 goals in

1898 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queen ...

was enough to win the VFL Leading Goalkicker Medal. Although he wasn't the most prolific forward for Collingwood in 1901, his 30 goals helped his club reach the 1901 VFL grand final, where they lost to Essendon. Smith's career total of 205 goals was a club record until broken by Dick Lee in 1910.

References

External links

*
Archie Smith's profile
at Collingwood Forever 1872 births 1961 deaths Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents Collingwood Football Club (VFA) players Collingwood Football Club players Richmond Football Club (VFA) players VFL Leading Goalkicker Medal winners People from Prahran, Victoria {{AFL-bio-1870s-stub