Smith Bert Image 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1921

Description

Higham, Kent born right half Bert Smith started his football career in London with junior clubs Vanbrugh Park in 1910, Crawford United in 1911, and London Metropolitan Gas Works (Metrogas) in 1912 from where he was invited to join Second Division Huddersfield Town in April 1913 initially as a forward. He scored eleven goals in his two trial matches with the reserves, eight in one match, and made his Football League debut for Town at Fulham that September, scoring 5 goals in 16 appearances before the suspension of peacetime football due to the onset of  the First World War.

He played football for the Army after his enlistment in the same team as Bert Bliss, and after the War he joined Tottenham Hotspur in 1919 on Bliss’s recommendation, initially as a forward. Instead of leaving the club after failing to break into the forward line, he reverted to half back and only missed 2 games as they successfully returned to the First Division as Second Division Champions in 1920.

He was then part of their FA Cup winning team of 1921 when they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 in the Final at Stamford Bridge, and was also a semi-finalist the following year when their defence of the trophy ended at the hands of Preston North End at Hillsborough, in a season in which they also finished runners up in the League Championship to Liverpool. He also played in their two Charity Shield appearances losing to West Bromwich Albion in 1920 but beating Burnley a year later.

He won 2 England caps, being selected in their defeat to Scotland at Hampden Park in April 1921 then again in a win over Wales at Anfield in March 1922. He also represented The Football League on one occasion, in a 3-0 win over The Scottish League in Glasgow in March 1922.

He was a near ever present for Spurs in 1923-24, missing only one game, and a regular for them until January 1927. He remained at Spurs until 1930 having played his last first team game in May 1929, scoring 10 goals in 321 appearances. He joined the Spurs’ nursery club Northfleet as coach in May 1930 and returned to playing briefly with Sheppey United in October 1931. He became the player-coach at Swiss club Young Boys of Berne from November 1931 until 1934 and also later coached at Harwich & Parkeston, Hitchin and Stevenage Borough.