George Smith (footballer, born 1921)
George Beacher Smith[1] (7 February 1921 – 14 July 2013) was an English footballer who played in the inside forward position. He played for Manchester City and Chesterfield between 1946 and 1958.[2]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | George Beacher Smith | ||
| Date of birth | 7 February 1921 | ||
| Place of birth | Fleetwood, England | ||
| Date of death | 14 July 2013 (aged 92) | ||
| Position(s) | Inside-forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1946–1951 | Manchester City | 166 | (75) |
| 1951–1958 | Chesterfield | 250 | (98) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Smith was born in Fleetwood, Lancashire. He signed for Manchester City in May 1938, but had to wait until 1946 before making his debut in an official first-team match because of World War II. He went on to play 166 league games for City, and scored 75 goals. In October 1951, he moved to Chesterfield, where he spent the rest of his professional career. He played 250 league games and scored 98 league goals for the Spireites. After leaving Chesterfield in 1958, he joined non-league Mossley.[2]
In 1946, he scored all four goals in a Manchester derby win against United, who were sharing Maine Road after United's ground, Old Trafford, suffered bomb damage. The match was watched by over 62,000, and scoring four goals - three of the four in seven minutes – lead to him being designated, not surprisingly, Man of the Match.
An additional achievement of note in Smith's career occurred on 26th August 1944 when he scored a hat-trick against Tranmere Rovers F.C. in the opening match of the new season. This was Smith's first appearance in City's first team since 25th April 1942, as in the meantime his football career was interrupted by his Military service.
After finishing his playing career he assumed management responsibilities. In October 1951 he moved on to Chesterfield (scoring 98 in 250 League appearances), and later was player-manager at Mossley and Hyde United. In 1964 he became Manager of football team Prestwich Heys A.F.C., currently a semi-professional football club based in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, England.
Smith was the first Spireite to appear in a light entertainment program on TV. He made a guest appearance in a "This is Your Life" tribute to Matt Busby in 1958. Incidentally, the show was aired just one month before the Munich air disaster, where Busby survived but 23 others did not.
Army & FA Representative XIs
During the Second World War he also played in Army and FA representative sides. Having been badly injured by a gunshot wound during the war whilst serving in South Africa, Smith was in the habit of playing with one sleeve of his football shirt pulled down over his injured hand to avoid drawing attention to the wound. The gunshot wound was sustained by a plane from the South African Air Force ... in other words the gunshot wound was classified as "friendly fire".
References
- Hugman, Barry (2005). The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–2005. Queen Anne Press. p. 571. ISBN 1-85291-665-6.
- George Smith, Post War English & Scottish Football League A-Z Player's Database (Neil Brown). Retrieved on 14 February 2010.
Further reading
- Rippon, A (2005) Gas Masks for Goal Posts: Football in Britain During the Second World War ISBN 0-7509-4030-1