Barry Smith (born 19 February 1974) is a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player, who was most recently the manager of

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foo ...

club Elgin City. As a player, Smith played in the right back, centre back, and defensive midfielder roles for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, Valur,

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the . The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greenock Morton in 1994 to celebr ...

and

Brechin City Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club w ...

. Smith was admitted into Dundee's

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

having made 400 appearances for the club. Smith played on loan for Brechin City while managing the Dundee under-19 side. He became Dundee first team manager in October 2010, when the club had entered financial

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

. During this period, Smith led the team to a club record 23-game unbeaten streak in the league. He has since managed

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. They compete in as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League. According to the official club hist ...

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

, East Fife,

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League. The club has won f ...

and Elgin City.

Club career

Celtic

Smith began his career with

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

side Celtic. He made his début aged 17 and played 22 games, including two

Old Firm The Old Firm is a collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded i ...

matches, between 1991 and 1995.

Dundee

Smith never gained a regular place at Celtic Park and joined fellow Scottish side Dundee in August 1995. He quickly established himself in the team at right-back and was made club captain in 1997, the same year Dundee achieved promotion to the Premier Division. After playing with the

Dens Park Dens Park is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland, which is the home of club Dundee F.C. and has a capacity of . Tannadice Park, the home of rivals Dundee United, is just 200 yards (183 metres) away. History Dundee moved to "Dens" from the ...

side for ten-and-a-half seasons, Smith reached his testimonial year. He also took on the role of joint caretaker manager (with Bobby Mann) for the final two games of the 2005–06 season following the dismissal of

Alan Kernaghan Alan Nigel Kernaghan (born 25 April 1967) is a football manager and former professional player. As a player, he was a defender from 1985 to 2006, notably in the Premier League for Manchester City and in the Football League for Middlesbrough, ...

Valur

At the end of the 2005–06 season, Smith transferred to Icelandic outfit Valur, helping them to third place (in 2006) and winning (in 2007) the Icelandic Premier Division, their first championship in 20 years.

Partick Thistle and Greenock Morton

During the Icelandic close season, Smith was loaned back to Scottish clubs. In January 2007, he joined Partick Thistle, making 18 appearances and scoring one goal, while in January 2008 he joined Greenock Morton, making 5 appearances until he underwent a cartilage operation which kept him out for the rest of the season.

Return to Dundee

On 4 November 2008, Smith returned to Dundee as U19 coach, with his registration as a player following in January, whereupon he was loaned out to neighbours

, with the ability to be recalled at any time. Brechin City's status as a part-time team enabled Smith to continue in his role as U19 Coach at Dens Park.

Coaching career

Dundee

On 15 October 2010, Smith was appointed manager of

. He succeeded

Gordon Chisholm Gordon William Chisholm (born 8 April 1960 in Glasgow) is a Scottish professional football former player and manager. Chisholm played as a central defender for Sunderland, Hibernian, Dundee and Partick Thistle. After retiring as a player, Chis ...

, who had been made redundant after the club entered

. Smith led the team to a club record unbeaten league streak of 23 games, guiding Dundee to safety despite the team receiving a 25-point deduction for entering administration for the second time in seven years (confirmed after a 0–1 win away to Ross County). This was rewarded, on 10 May 2011, when Smith signed a new three-year deal at Dundee, contracting him as manager until the end of the 2013–14 season. Despite finishing second in the

2011–12 Scottish First Division The 2011–12 Scottish Football League First Division, also known as the 2011–12 Irn Bru Scottish Football League First Division for sponsorship reasons, is the 18th season of the Scottish First Division and the 106th season of a second-tier ...

, Dundee were admitted to the Scottish Premier League due to the liquidation of Rangers. Dundee struggled in the early part of the

2012–13 Scottish Premier League The 2012–13 Scottish Premier League was the fifteenth and final season of the Scottish Premier League, the highest division of Scottish football, since its inception in 1998. The season began on 4 August 2012 and ended on 19 May 2013. Twelve ...

, winning three out of 22 matches. Despite this, the Dundee board restated their backing for Smith, citing the difficulty in adjusting to the SPL in unusual circumstances. However, just 47 days later, Smith and Dundee parted company. His sacking was criticised by

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

manager

Steve Lomas Stephen Martin Lomas (born 18 January 1974) is a Northern Irish football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, Lomas was a midfielder from 1991 to 2010. He had spells in the Premier League for both Manchester City and West Ham ...

, believing Smith deserved another chance.

Alloa

On 1 July 2013, Smith joined Ross County as the club's Under-20s coach. In January 2014, Smith was appointed manager of

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

club

. He guided Alloa to the final of the

2014–15 Scottish Challenge Cup The 2014–15 Scottish Challenge Cup, known as the Petrofac Training Cup due to sponsorship reasons with Petrofac, was the 24th season of the competition. It was competed for by 32 clubs, which included the 30 members of the 2014–15 Scottis ...

. Alloa defeated

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

in the semi-final, with Smith noting the fact he had become the first Alloa manager to win a match against Rangers. Smith said in December 2014 that he hoped to return to a full-time management job. After a run of one win in 13 matches, he resigned as Alloa manager in March 2015.

Aldershot

On 27 April 2015,

appointed Barry Smith as their manager. He resigned a year later due to family issues.

East Fife

Smith was appointed manager of

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foot ...

club East Fife in December 2016. He left the club on 30 May 2017.

Raith Rovers

After leaving East Fife, Smith took over as manager of recently relegated

side

on 30 May 2017. Rovers finished second in

2017–18 Scottish League One The 2017–18 Scottish League One (known as Ladbrokes League One for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season in the format of 10 teams in the third-tier of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 23 June 2017. Ten teams contested the ...

, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion and then losing in the playoffs to Alloa. Smith resigned from his position on 4 September 2018, with the team sitting in second place.

Brechin City

Smith was appointed

manager in November 2018. On 13 July 2019, Smith was forced to play himself in a League Cup game against

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in . They play their home games at Station Park, in t ...

due to a shortage of players, nine years after retiring from playing. Smith left Brechin on 19 August 2019, after they had lost their first three matches of the

2019–20 Scottish League Two The 2019–20 Scottish League Two (known as Ladbrokes League Two for sponsorship reasons) was the 26th season in the current format of 10 teams in the fourth-tier of Scottish football. Ten teams contested the league: Albion Rovers, Annan Athleti ...

season.

Forfar and Dundee return

Smith was made assistant manager for

underneath manager

Jim Weir James McIntosh Weir (born 15 June 1969) is a Scottish professional football player and coach who manages Scottish League Two club Forfar Athletic. Weir played in the senior Scottish leagues for Hamilton Academical, Hearts and St. Johnstone. ...

in October 2019. During Smith's short tenure with the Loons, Weir was recovering from a car crash, and eventually had to resign due to complications caused by the crash. As part of a new change in management, Smith left Forfar shortly after. Smith made his return to Dundee a couple of weeks later, taking up a role in the club's academy headed by

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player who is currently Technical Director of Dundee. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Sc ...

and Stephen Wright.

Dumbarton

Smith was appointed Jim Duffy's assistant at

side

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

in January 2020 after the departure of

Craig McPherson Craig McPherson (born 27 March 1971) is a Scottish former professional Association football, footballer, who is currently assistant manager of Scottish Women's Premier League team Rangers W.F.C., Rangers. He played as a Defender (association fo ...

York United

On 23 February 2022, Smith joined

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

side

York United York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. History ...

as an assistant coach under former Canadian international Martin Nash.

Elgin City

Smith was appointed manager of

club Elgin City in September 2023. He left the club two months later due to increased work commitments in another employment.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

;Dundee *

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...

: Champions 1997–98 ;Valur * Icelandic Premier Division : Champions

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Manager

;Dundee *

: promotion 2011–12

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Barry 1974 births Living people Footballers from Paisley, Renfrewshire Scottish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Scottish Premier League players Celtic F.C. players Scottish Football League players Dundee F.C. players Scottish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Iceland Valur (men's football) players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Partick Thistle F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Brechin City F.C. players Scottish football managers Dundee F.C. managers Alloa Athletic F.C. managers Aldershot Town F.C. managers East Fife F.C. managers Raith Rovers F.C. managers Brechin City F.C. managers Scottish Football League managers Scottish Premier League managers Scottish Professional Football League managers Dumbarton F.C. non-playing staff Scottish expatriate football managers Expatriate soccer coaches in the United States Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer coaches in Canada Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Canada York United FC non-playing staff Elgin City F.C. managers