Willie Smith (footballer, born 1943)

Willie Smith
Personal information
Full name William Smith[1][2]
Date of birth (1943-12-06) 6 December 1943
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Playing position Wing half, inside left
Youth career
Blantyre Celtic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1960–1963 Celtic 0 (0)
1963–1965 Brentford 25 (0)
Hastings United
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

William "Willie" Smith (born 6 December 1943) is a retired Scottish professional football wing half who appeared in the Football League with Brentford.[2]

Career

Early years

Born in Glasgow, Smith began his career as an inside left with junior side Blantyre Celtic before securing a move to Scottish Division One side Celtic in 1960.[3] He failed to appear for the first team and departed Celtic Park in 1963.[2][3]

Brentford

Smith moved to England and was recruited by Division Three side Brentford's Scottish manager Malky McDonald in June 1963.[2] Playing as a wing half, Smith made something of a breakthrough into the first team during the 1963–64 season, making 18 appearances.[4] Over the course of the following two seasons, Smith lost his place to Mel Scott and made just 12 appearances.[2][4] He was mostly confined to the reserve team, winning the London Challenge Cup with the side in 1965.[5] Smith departed Griffin Park in the summer of 1966, having made 30 appearances for the Bees without scoring.[2]

Hastings United

After his release from Brentford, Smith dropped into non-league football and signed for Southern League Division One side Hastings United in the summer of 1966.[2] He helped the club to a second-place finish in the 1966–67 season, securing promotion to the Premier Division.[2]

Honours

Brentford Reserves

Career statistics

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Brentford 1963–64[4] Third Division 13 0 1 0 4 0 18 0
1964–65[4] 7 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
1965–66[4] 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Career total 25 0 1 0 4 0 30 0

References

  1. ↑ "Willie Smith". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 150. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  3. 1 2 "Players Who Never Played a Game M – Z". thecelticwiki.com. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 388–388. ISBN 0951526200.
  5. 1 2 Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z Of Bees: Brentford Encyclopaedia. Yore Publications. p. 82. ISBN 1 874427 57 7.


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