Robert Alfred Smith (22 February 1933 – 18 September 2010) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

Brighton and Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football leag ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He finished as the First Division's top scorer in the 1957–58 season and he is

's 3rd highest ever goal scorer with 208 goals.

Club career

Smith was born in

Lingdale Lingdale is a village in the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. The village was created with the advent of ironstone mining in the area, in the early 19th century. History Lingda ...

, North Riding of Yorkshire, and was spotted by

when playing for Redcar Boys' Club, where he had originally started out as a full back. He signed professional for the London club in 1950.''Soccer Who's Who'' compiled by Maurice Golesworthy, The Sportsmans Book Club London 1965 He scored 23 League goals in 74 appearances, and seven FA Cup goals in twelve appearances. He was part of the 1954–55 Chelsea side that won the First Division, though he only made four appearances that season. Despite the fact he never really became established as a regular with Chelsea between 1950 and 1955,

paid £18,000 for his transfer in December 1955. Smith was an integral part of Bill Nicholson's famous

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

winning Tottenham team of 1960–61. He was Tottenham's top scorer in the double-winning season, with 33 goals scored in 43 games, including the first of the two goals in the

1961 FA Cup Final The 1961 FA Cup Final was the 80th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 6 May 1961 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City. Tottenham won the match 2–0, with Bobby Smith and Terry Dyson scoring ...

. The team also went on to retain the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

(scoring in the Final again) and win the 1963 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. He is one of Spurs' all-time top goal scorers, third behind Harry Kane and to

Jimmy Greaves James Peter Greaves (20 February 1940 – 19 September 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Greaves is regarded as one of England’s best ever players. He is England's fifth-highest international goalscorer ...

, with 208 goals scored in 317 senior matches, including 12 hat-tricks. Smith played for

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

from 1964 to 1965, scoring 19 goals in 31 appearances.

International career

Smith won 15 full international caps for the England national team which included two goals in the 9–3 defeat of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

at Wembley in 1961. He played for England from 1960 to 1963, scoring 13 goals.

Post-playing career

Smith published a book in 2002 to celebrate his achievements, ''Memories of Spurs'', with a foreword by Jimmy Greaves. He died on 18 September 2010 following a short illness at a hospital in

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

, London.Bobby Smith THFC official website
Accessed 11 June 2013

Honours

Tottenham Hotspur * Football League First Division: 1960–61 *

: 1960–61, 1961–62 * FA Community Shield:

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...

: 1962–63 Brighton & Hove Albion * Football League Fourth Division: 1964–65

References

External links

Bobby Smith's book 'My Memories of Spurs'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Bobby 1933 births People from Lingdale 2010 deaths English footballers England international footballers Association football forwards Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Hastings United F.C. (1948) players 1958 FIFA World Cup players English Football League players First Division/Premier League top scorers London XI players Footballers from North Yorkshire FA Cup Final players