Tom Smith (footballer, born 1877)

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Tom Smith
Personal information
Full name Thomas Smith
Date of birth 1877
Place of birth Ashton-in-Makerfield, England
Date of deathUnknown
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Outside-right
Youth career
1893–1895 Ashton Athletic
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1895–1897 Ashton Town
1897–1898 Preston North End 4 (0)
1898–1899 Southampton 14 (1)
1899–1900 Queens Park Rangers
1900–1901 Preston North End 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Thomas Smith (born 1877) was a professional English footballer who played at outside-right for various clubs around the turn of the 20th century.

Contents

Football career

Smith was born in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Lancashire and played his early football for Ashton Athletic and Ashton Town in their pre-league era. [1]

In May 1897, he joined Preston North End where another player of the same name was already playing, also as an outside-forward. Smith made four appearances in the Football League First Division, plus one in the FA Cup, before Preston made both players available at the end of the season. The directors of Southampton agreed to sign him, apparently under the misapprehension that they were signing the other player, who had established a reputation for being a "star". [1] (The other Tom Smith went on to have a long career with Tottenham Hotspur, including scoring the second goal as the "Spurs" defeated Sheffield United to win the 1901 FA Cup Final.)

At the "Saints", Smith won the 100 yard sprint in the club's annual sports day, encouraging the directors to believe that they had signed the right player. [1] The "Saints" were about to embark on their first season in their new stadium and Smith made his debut for Southampton in the opening match at The Dell, against Brighton United on 3 September 1898. Smith scored the final goal in a 4–1 victory - the goal was described as "just such a goal as there is no doubt about – a shot which beats the goalkeeper almost before it is made". [2]

Despite this auspicious start, Smith's subsequent indifferent form led the directors to realise that they had acquired the services of the wrong player, [1] and by February Smith had lost his place, initially to Tom Nicol and then to Jimmy Yates. Smith left the Saints in the summer of 1899, [3] to join Queens Park Rangers for their first season in the Southern League.

He returned to Preston in 1900 and spent one further season in the Football League, making two more appearances.

Honours

Southampton

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The 1925–26 season was the 31st season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's fourth in the Second Division of the Football League. After finishing in the top half of the league table in their first three seasons in the division, Southampton had their worst year to date in the second flight when they finished in 14th place, ending just six points above the first relegation position. The club suffered a string of losses at the beginning of the campaign, leaving them with points to make up in later months. Former player Arthur Chadwick was brought in as Southampton's new manager in October, and the club subsequently secured their position in the Second Division with a run of wins over the Christmas period, despite continuing to lose points. The club finished in 14th place with 15 wins, eight draws and 19 losses.

The 1927–28 season was the 33rd season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's sixth in the Second Division of the Football League. The season was the club's worst in the division to date, as they finished in 17th place just two points above Fulham in the first relegation spot. After a poor start in which they lost their first four games of the campaign, the Saints continued to drop points against teams throughout the Second Division, remaining in the bottom six positions for most of the year. A number of wins in the second half of the season over fellow mid-table sides helped to offset notable losses against those aiming for promotion, ensuring that the club avoided returning down to the Third Division South. Southampton finished the season in 17th place with 14 wins, seven draws and 21 losses.

The 1928–29 season was the 34th season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's seventh in the Second Division of the Football League. After finishing in the bottom half of the Second Division league table the last three seasons, the club returned to challenging for promotion to the First Division when they finished fourth, their highest position in the league to date. The team were strong throughout the campaign, picking up key wins over teams around them in the table to secure a strong position. They stayed in the top six of the league for most of the campaign from September, reaching third place on two occasions and dropping to seventh just twice. Southampton finished the season in fourth place with 17 wins, 14 draws and 11 losses, five points behind Grimsby Town in the first promotion place.

The 1931–32 season was the 37th season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's tenth in the Second Division of the Football League. After finishing in the top half of the Second Division league table for the past three seasons, the Saints struggled to challenge in 1931–32 and ended up finishing in 14th place, closer to relegation than promotion. Southampton's first season with manager George Kay started strongly, as the team picked up four wins in their first five matches and reached the top of the Second Division league table for the first time in the club's history. Form quickly deteriorated, however, and the club was briefly involved in a fight for survival in the new year. After picking up a few more wins, Southampton secured their safety and finished in 14th place with 14 wins, 14 draws and 14 losses.

The 1932–33 season was the 38th season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's 11th in the Second Division of the Football League. It was another disappointing campaign for the Saints, who finished mid-table and rarely competed for promotion to the First Division. After a slow start to the season, the club had established themselves in the top half of the table by October with a string of victories. By the end of the calendar year, Southampton had dropped as low as 14th in the Second Division table – the position in which they finished the previous season – after a period of poor form in December. Wins were hard to come by in the second half of the season, but a strong run of results in April meant that the side finished 12th with 18 wins, five draws and 19 losses, seven points above the first relegation place.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing. p. 315. ISBN   0-9514862-3-3.
  2. ↑ Bull, David; Brunskell, Bob (2000). Match of the Millennium. Hagiology Publishing. pp. 20–21. ISBN   0-9534474-1-3.
  3. ↑ Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan (1987). Saints – A complete record. Breedon Books. pp. 24–25. ISBN   0-907969-22-4.
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