Bernard Smith (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Bernard Smith | ||
| Date of birth | 1908 | ||
| Place of birth | Sileby, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Left back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| – | Loughborough Corinthians | ||
| 1932–1935 | Birmingham | 12 | (0) |
| 1935–1939 | Coventry City | 56 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Bernard Smith (1908 – after 1938) was an English professional footballer who made 68 appearances in the Football League playing for Birmingham and Coventry City.[2] He played as a left back.
Smith was born in Sileby, Leicestershire. He played for Loughborough Corinthians, and after an unsuccessful trial with Derby County, joined Birmingham in February 1932.[3]
At the start of the 1932–33 season, Birmingham's regular left back Ned Barkas was recovering from an appendicitis operation,[4] so left-half Jimmy Cringan took his position. Cringan broke a collarbone in his first game,[5] and was replaced by reserve left-back Jack Randle, who played four games[6] before Smith, the second reserve, was drafted in for his debut at Derby County on 17 September 1932,[1] which finished as a 2–2 draw. This was the first of a run of games, but when the experienced Barkas returned to the side Smith could not dislodge him.[6]
Smith moved on to Coventry City in August 1935, and contributed to their Third Division South championship in his first season.[3] He played 56 league games for Coventry,[2] and retired in 1939.[3]
Smith is the grandfather of The Times' football journalist Rory Smith.[7]
Honours
with Coventry City
- Football League Third Division South champions: 1935–36
References
- 1 2 "Three League Clubs With New Players". Daily Express. 16 September 1932. p. 15.
- 1 2 Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 241. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
- 1 2 3 Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
- ↑ "Hundred-Per-Cent. Football Test". Daily Express. 9 September 1932. p. 12.
- ↑ Rex (29 August 1932). "Injuries Mar First Day Of Football". The Daily Mirror. p. 18.
- 1 2 Matthews, p. 175.
- ↑ Rory Smith [RorySmithTimes] (29 April 2015). "Spent the day reading old newspapers. Found this, from 1932. Young Bernard is (well, was) my grandad." (Tweet) – via Twitter.