Bill Smith (footballer, born 1887)

William Smith (23 June 1887 – 21 March 1929) was an English professional footballer who played at centre-forward for various clubs in the years immediately prior to the First World War.

Bill Smith
Personal information
Full name William Smith
Date of birth 23 June 1887[1]
Place of birth Denaby Main, England
Date of death 21 March 1929(1929-03-21) (aged 41)[1]
Place of death Leeds, England[1]
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Position(s) Centre-forward
Youth career
Hickleton Main Colliery
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1912–1913 Brentford 27 (12)
1913–1914 Southampton 20 (4)
1914–1915 Halifax Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Football career

Smith was born in Denaby Main, in the West Riding of Yorkshire and played his early football for the nearby Hickleton Main Colliery, before joining Brentford of the Southern League in October 1912. At Griffin Park, he soon gained a reputation as a prolific goal-scorer with 12 goals from 27 appearances.[3]

In the 1913 close-season, he moved to the south coast to join Southampton and made his debut for the "Saints" in the opening match of the 1913–14 season. Despite "showing persistence and industry",[2] he struggled to reproduce the form he had at Brentford and after scoring only four goals in his first fourteen appearances, he was replaced by Percy Prince. Smith was recalled for a further five matches in December/January without managing to score, and lost his place again, this time to new signing, Arthur Hollins.[4]

In the summer of 1914, Smith returned to Yorkshire to join Halifax Town of the Midland League.[2]

References
  1. "Willie Smith". SaintsPlayers.co.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  2. Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing. pp. 315–316. ISBN 0-9514862-3-3.
  3. White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 362. ISBN 0951526200.
  4. Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan (1987). Saints – A complete record. Breedon Books. pp. 54–55. ISBN 0-907969-22-4.
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