Alex Smith (footballer, born 1939)

Alex Smith
Personal information
Date of birth (1939-12-25) 25 December 1939
Place of birth Cowie, Scotland
Playing position Inside forward
Youth career
Gowanhill United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1958–1959 Kilmarnock 0 (0)
1959–1962 Stenhousemuir 39 (9)
1962–1965 Stirling Albion 51 (11)
1965–1966 East Stirlingshire 12 (4)
1966–1968 Albion Rovers 23 (0)
1968–1970 Stenhousemuir 23 (0)
Teams managed
1968–1974 Stenhousemuir
1974–1986 Stirling Albion
Scotland under-18
1986–1988 St Mirren
1988–1992 Aberdeen
1992–1994 Clyde
1998–2002 Scotland under-21
2000–2002 Dundee United
2002–2005 Ross County
2013 Falkirk (interim)
2017 Falkirk (interim)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Alex Smith MBE (born 25 December 1939), is a Scottish former football player and manager. His major achievements as manager include winning the Scottish Cup in 1987 (with St Mirren) and 1990 (with Aberdeen), and the Scottish League Cup (again with Aberdeen) in 1989. In the 2005 book on Scottish football, The Final Whistle? he was described as "the nearest thing the Scottish game has to a father figure".

Biography

Smith was born in Cowie, a mining village close to Stirling, and played in the same youth team as Billy Bremner. He was best man at Bremner's wedding. His playing career was journeymanlike, and he played for Kilmarnock, Stenhousemuir, Stirling Albion and Albion Rovers.

His managerial career began in 1968 with Stenhousemuir.[1] In 1974, he became manager of Stirling Albion and would manage the club for 12 years, winning the Division Two championship in 1977. Stirling Albion remained in the second tier for four seasons, and were relegated in 1981 after failing to score a league goal for three months [2], Smith nonetheless remained at the club until 1986 when he moved to St Mirren, with whom he would win the Scottish Cup in 1987.

Smith and co-manager Jocky Scott succeeded Ian Porterfield at Aberdeen in 1988. For the next three seasons Aberdeen were the premier rivals to Rangers, finishing runners-up in each of those seasons. They would win the double of the League Cup and Scottish Cup in 1990, and in 1991 would go into their final game at Ibrox needing only a draw to win the League championship on goals scored. A 2–0 defeat courtesy of a Mark Hateley double sealed a third straight title for Rangers. They began the next season well, including a 2–0 win at Ibrox, but a slump in form resulted in his dismissal in February 1992.

He would later manage Clyde, Dundee United and Ross County. Smith later worked as technical director at Falkirk. In June 2009 he was appointed assistant to the then head coach Eddie May.[3][4] In March 2013 he was appointed interim manager at the club following the departure of Steven Pressley.[5] He was again placed in interim charge in September 2017, after Peter Houston left.[6] Smith was 77 years old, which made him the oldest manager of a professional football club in Europe at the time.[1] He retired from football at the end of the 2017–18 season.[7]

Smith was involved with Scotland at a number of levels, managing the Scotland under-18 and under-21 sides. He also took charge of the Scotland B squad in January 2007, alongside Bobby Williamson.[8]

Managerial statistics

Team From To Record
PWLDWin %
Stenhousemuir 1 August 1968 1 September 1974 -----
Stirling 1 September 1974 16 December 1986 -----
St Mirren 17 December 1986 31 May 1988 -----
Aberdeen 1 August 1988 10 February 1992 17891394851.12
Clyde 1 August 1992 1 June 1994 -----
Scotland under-21 14 March 2002 -----
Dundee United 8 August 2000 7 October 2002 9931452331.31
Ross County 27 November 2002 11 June 2005 11239452834.82
Falkirk (interim) 8 March 2013 3 April 2013 532060.0
Falkirk (interim) 24 September 2017 7 October 2017 2200100

Manager

Stenhousemuir
Stirling Albion
St Mirren
Aberdeen (co-manager with Jocky Scott)
Clyde

Personal

March 2001, May 2001, January 2002

References

  1. 1 2 McLauchlin, Brian (29 September 2017). "Falkirk interim boss Alex Smith to be oldest manager in Europe this weekend". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  2. ↑ "Results for Stirling Albion for 1980-81". London Hearts. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  3. ↑ http://www.falkirkfc.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4281&Itemid=1 Falkirk FC | New Coaching Team
  4. ↑ http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/2491410/Ill-teach-them-the-Shankly-way.html The Sun | "Smith insists he'll NOT be a director of football"
  5. ↑ "Falkirk: Alex Smith interim boss after Steven Pressley exit". BBC Sport. BBC. 8 March 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  6. ↑ Oliver, David (24 September 2017). "BREAKING: Peter Houston no longer Falkirk manager". Falkirk Herald. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  7. ↑ "Alex Smith: Falkirk technical director to retire from football". BBC Sport. BBC. 28 March 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  8. ↑ "Gow & McGregor given Scots chance". BBC Sport. BBC. 30 January 2007.
  • Reid, Harry (2005), The Final Whistle?, Birlinn, ISBN 1-84158-362-6
  • Grant, Michael and Robertson, Rob (2010), The Management, Birlinn, ISBN 978-1-84158-819-3
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