Willie_Smith_(footballer,_born_1943)
Willie Smith (footballer, born 1943)
Scottish footballer
William Smith (born 6 December 1943) is a Scottish retired professional football wing half who played in the Football League for Brentford.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Smith[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1943-12-06) 6 December 1943 (age 80) | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Position(s) | Wing half, inside left | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 0000–1960 | Blantyre Celtic | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1960–1963 | Celtic | 0 | (0) |
| 1963–1965 | Brentford | 25 | (0) |
| Hastings United | |||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Early years
Born in Glasgow, Smith began his career as an inside left with junior club Blantyre Celtic before securing a move to Scottish League First Division club Celtic in 1960.[2] He failed to appear for the first team and departed Celtic Park in 1963.[2][3]
Brentford
Smith moved to England to sign for Third Division club Brentford on a free transfer in June 1963.[3][4] Playing as a wing half, Smith made something of a breakthrough into the first team during the 1963–64 season and made 18 appearances.[5] Over the course of the following two seasons, Smith lost his place to Mel Scott and made just 12 appearances.[3][5] He was mostly confined to the reserves and won the London Challenge Cup with the team in 1965.[6] Smith departed Griffin Park at the end of the 1965–66 and made 30 appearances for the club.[3]
Hastings United
After his release from Brentford, Smith dropped into non-league football and signed for Southern League First Division club Hastings United during the 1966 off-season.[3] He helped the club to a second-place finish in the 1966–67 season, which secured promotion to the Premier Division.[3]
Brentford Reserves
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Brentford | 1963–64[5] | Third Division | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| 1964–65[5] | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | ||
| 1965–66[5] | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 30 | 0 | ||
- "Willie Smith". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
- "Players Who Never Played a Game M – Z". thecelticwiki.com. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
- Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 150. ISBN 978-0955294914.
- Margate Football Club – Official Programme – Margate v. Brentford. 20 November 1963.
- White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 388. ISBN 0951526200.
- Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z Of Bees: Brentford Encyclopaedia. Yore Publications. p. 82. ISBN 1-874427-57-7.
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