Willie Smith (footballer, born 1943)

William Smith (born 6 December 1943) is a Scottish retired professional football wing half who played in the Football League for Brentford.

Willie Smith
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

Career

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Early years

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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

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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

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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]

Honours

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Brentford Reserves

Career statistics

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
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

References

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  1. ^ "Willie Smith". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Players Who Never Played a Game M – Z". thecelticwiki.com. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 150. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  4. ^ Margate Football Club – Official Programme – Margate v. Brentford. 20 November 1963.
  5. ^ a b c d e White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 388. ISBN 0951526200.
  6. ^ a b Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z Of Bees: Brentford Encyclopaedia. Yore Publications. p. 82. ISBN 1-874427-57-7.