Barry Anthony Smith (born 3 March 1953) is an English former

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 le ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring 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 intercepting o ...

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 ...

for

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

. He was also briefly on the books at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

and

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

but failed to make an appearance for either team.

Career

Born in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

, Smith came through the youth ranks at hometown club

, signing a professional contract in July 1971. He made his debut aged 18 on 28 August 1971 in a 3–0 defeat at

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

in the Fourth Division but it wasn't until usual keeper Graham Smith was sold to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

in October of the same year that Smith became a regular fixture in the U's starting line-up. He played in all the remaining games of the 1971–72 season and featured regularly at the beginning of the 1972–73 season. In Jim Smith's first game as manager in October 1972, it was found Barry had been playing with a broken wrist, leaving him out of action until the New Year. As cover, Jim Smith signed John McInally from Lincoln City, as Barry only went on to make one more start for the club, a 4–1 defeat to

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...

on 17 February 1973. This was to be his last match in a Colchester shirt. In all, Smith made 49 appearances for Colchester between 1971 and 1973. In 1973, Smith had short spells with both

and

but failed to make an appearance for either club, eventually joining non-league Weymouth in November of the same year. He later played for ex-U's player Roy Massey's Clacton Town as an outfield player. Following the end of his footballing career, Smith became an insurance agent in Colchester. With the death of Colchester United legend and Former Players Association chairman Peter Wright in 2012, Smith was appointed chairman at a Former Players Association dinner in April 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Barry 1953 births Living people Footballers from Colchester English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Colchester United F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Weymouth F.C. players F.C. Clacton players English Football League players