Ronald Smith (born 7 June 1936) 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 lea ...

who played on the

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

. He scored 62 goals in 426 appearances over a 13-year career. Failing to make the grade at

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, he

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies * ...

red to Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in 1959. He spent two years with the club before moving to

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

in July 1961. He helped Crewe to win

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out of the Fourth Division in 1962–63 before he was sold on to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

for a £6,500 fee in October 1963. In April 1965, he was allowed to join

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

, where he again won promotion out of the fourth tier in 1966–67. Following this, he joined

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

, where he lifted the

Northern Premier League Challenge Cup The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system. Geographically, the league c ...

in 1970.

Career

Smith had trials with

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

, but after his discharge from

National service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

, he was signed to

on amateur terms in 1955. He turned professional in 1957 but left the club for Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in 1959, having never turned out for the first team. He made his debut for Bournemouth in the Third Division against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

in October 1959. He scored three goals in ten games in 1959–60, two goals coming from

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

s. He scored four times in thirty games in 1960–61, before he was

red to Fourth Division side

in July 1961. Establishing himself in the first team at

Gresty Road Gresty Road or the Alexandra Stadium, currently known as the Mornflake Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The home ground of Crewe Alexandra, it has an all-seated capacity of 10,153. History C ...

in 1961–62 by missing just three league games, he helped the club to win

in third place in 1962–63, scoring five goals in forty league games. He played nine games in 1963–64 before he was once again moved on. He was signed by

Freddie Steele Freddie Steele (December 18, 1912 – August 22, 1984) was a boxer and film actor born Frederick Earle Burgett in Seattle, Washington. He was recognized as the National Boxing Association (NBA) Middleweight Champion of the World between 1936 ...

's Third Division

for £6,500 in October 1963. He was a regular from his inception in the side, and posted 39 appearances in 1963–64, scoring five goals. He lost his first-team place on

Boxing Day Boxing Day, also called as Offering Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part ...

1964 when he damaged an eye in a 3–0 defeat to

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

. Upon his recovery he failed to regain his spot and was given a free transfer in April 1965, having scored twice in 28 appearances in 1964–65. He moved on to Fourth Division

, who were managed by his former Vale teammate

Billy Bingham William Laurence Bingham (5 August 1931 – 9 June 2022) was a Northern Ireland international footballer and manager. As a player, his first professional club was Glentoran, for whom he played between 1948 and 1950. Making a move to England, ...

. He was an ever-present in 1965–66 before he helped the "Sandgrounders" to win promotion as runners-up in 1966–67. He was given a free transfer to

Cheshire County League The Cheshire County League was a football league founded in the north west of England in 1919, drawing its teams largely from Cheshire, surrounding English counties and North Wales. Initially the league was dominated by the reserve teams of Fo ...

side

in 1967. After a second-place finish in 1967–68, the club became founder members of the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

. He played 34 league games of the inaugural 1968–69 season before he won the

with the club in 1970 after victory over

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an association football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and from 1891 played home games at Moss Rose. It competed in the short ...

. He left the club at the end of the 1969–70 campaign. Upon leaving

Moss Lane Moss Lane is a multi-purpose stadium in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. It is currently used primarily for football matches and is the home ground of Altrincham. The stadium also hosts games for Manchester United's under 17s side, and ...

, he turned out for Netherfield, then moved to

Formby Formby is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, three manors are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 under ...

where he debuted in November 1975 a week after Alex Russell and played alongside his old Southport teammate Ambrose Clarke. He left the club for Fleetwood Hesketh. He stayed involved in Formby for many years, managing their reserves side, and later returned as first-team

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

in the mid-1980s, steering them to their second

Liverpool Senior Cup The Liverpool County Football Association Senior Cup, commonly known as the Liverpool Senior Cup, is a Football (soccer), football knockout tournament involving teams from the city of Liverpool, England and surrounding areas. It is the County cu ...

final in 1985.

Career statistics

Honours

Crewe Alexandra *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier ...

third-place promotion: 1962–63 Southport *

second-place promotion: 1966–67 Altrincham *

: 1970

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Ron Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers Men's association football wingers Stoke City F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Southport F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Kendal Town F.C. players Formby F.C. players English Football League players Northern Premier League players 1936 births Living people