Gordon Smith (25 May 1924 – 7 August 2004) was a Scottish

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 ...

. He is the only player to have won a

Scottish league championship The Scottish League Championship (currently the Tennents League Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic rugby union league system within Scotland. Operated by the Scottish Rugby Union, the championship was founded in 1973 as the fi ...

with three clubs: Hibernian, Heart of Midlothian, and Dundee. Smith also represented

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 ...

and the

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

Club career

Hibernian

Born in Edinburgh, Smith spent most of his childhood in Montrose in

Angus Angus may refer to: Media * ''Angus'' (film), a 1995 film * ''Angus Og'' (comics), in the ''Daily Record'' Places Australia * Angus, New South Wales Canada * Angus, Ontario, a community in Essa, Ontario * East Angus, Quebec Scotland * An ...

. He showed great footballing promise in his school days at Southesk and

Montrose Academy Montrose Academy is a coeducational secondary school in Montrose Angus. The School now teaches people from ages 11–18. It became a comprehensive school in the mid-fifties and was one of a pair of Scottish schools which formed a country-wide t ...

, earning two Scottish schoolboy caps at aged 14. At the juvenile and junior level, he played for Bromford, Kirriemuir Harp (turning out a few times for junior sides Montrose Roselea and Kirriemuir Thistle) and Dundee North End. Smith scored an abundance of goals in his junior days, regularly netting a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

and even as many as eight goals a match. On 14 April 1941, Smith played for a Scottish Junior select side against a Hearts and Hibs select to celebrate the opening of Lochee Harp's Beechwood Park, scoring a hat-trick. Afterwards, both Edinburgh club's quickly sought his signature. Smith had been due to sign for his boyhood favourites Hearts, but the 16-year-old was signed by Hibs as a professional and played against their Edinburgh rivals on his debut, scoring a hat-trick in a 5–3 victory at Tynecastle on 28 April 1941. The "Gay Gordon" soon established himself as an idol for a whole generation of post-war football fans. Alongside

Bobby Johnstone Robert Johnstone (7 September 1929 – 22 August 2001) was a Scottish footballer, who played for Selkirk, Hibernian, Manchester City, Oldham Athletic and Witton Albion. Johnstone also represented Scotland and the Scottish League. Johnston ...

Lawrie Reilly Lawrance Reilly (28 October 1928 – 22 July 2013) was a Scottish footballer. He was one of the " Famous Five", the Hibernian forward line during the late 1940s and early 1950s, along with Bobby Johnstone, Gordon Smith, Eddie Turnbull, and W ...

, Eddie Turnbull, and

Willie Ormond William Esplin Ormond (23 February 1927 – 4 May 1984) was a Scottish football player and manager. As a player, Ormond was well known as one of Hibernian's Famous Five forward line, winning three league championships in the late 1940s an ...

, Smith became part of the " Famous Five", the most celebrated forward line in Hibs' history. During the late 1940s and 1950s Smith and the Famous Five ensured Hibs were one of the most successful sides in Scotland, both sporting-wise and at the turnstiles. The League title was captured three times ( 1948,

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

), while

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yug ...

saw Rangers pip Hibs only through the

goal average A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

system. Smith was less successful in cup competition however, reaching only one

Scottish Cup Final The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Scottish Cup, is a knockout cup competition in Scottish football. Organised by the Scottish Football Association, it is the third oldest existing football competition in the w ...

with Hibs, which they lost 2–1 to

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

in 1947. A recurring ankle injury led to Hibs releasing him in 1959.

Heart of Midlothian

Smith believed that an operation could cure the injury. Smith paid for an operation on the offending ankle himself, and then he signed for Hearts. He was to enjoy immediate success at Tynecastle, winning both the league and the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

in his first season with the club. After an injury-plagued second season with Hearts, Smith was released and again the football writers prepared obituaries for the veteran's career.

Dundee

Smith was to again confound contemporary wisdom, signing for Dundee and forming a part of their

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

winning side in

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 ...

. At the age of 38, Smith had achieved the unique distinction of being the only player to win the league title with three different teams, none of them with either half of the traditionally dominant

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

. In the following season Smith was paired in a forward line with

Alan Gilzean Alan John Gilzean (; 22 October 1938 – 8 July 2018) was a Scottish professional footballer, active from 1955 to 1975. A striker, Gilzean played most prominently for Dundee and Tottenham Hotspur, and also appeared in 22 international games for ...

. They helped Dundee to the European Cup semi-finals, where they performed gallantly in an aggregate defeat to

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

. After leaving Dundee, he played briefly for Drumcondra in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

, before finally retiring at the end of the 1963–64 season.

International career

During his playing career, Gordon Smith was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

19 times by

, scoring four goals. Smith was compared with his English contemporaries

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while sti ...

and

Tom Finney Sir Thomas Finney (5 April 1922 – 14 February 2014) was an English international footballer who played from 1946 to 1960 as a winger or centre forward for Preston North End and England. He is widely acknowledged to have been one of the s ...

, but he did not appear to have a "big-match temperament". Smith had to compete for selection with Rangers winger Willie Waddell, who was capped 17 times in the same period. In addition to his appearances for the national team, Smith appeared 11 times for the

Career statistics

International appearances

International goals

Honours

; Hibernian * Scottish Division A: 1947–48, 1950–51, 1951–52 * Southern League Cup: 1943–44 * Wilson Cup: 1944–45, 1945–46 *

Rosebery Charity Cup The Rosebery Charity Cup was a football competition organised for senior clubs from the East of Scotland. History The tournament was organised by and named for an early patron of Scottish football Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery and ...

: 1944–45 ; Heart of Midlothian *

Scottish Division One The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

: 1959–60 *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

: 1959–60 ; Dundee *

: 1961–62 ; Scotland * British Home Championship: 1955–56 (shared) ; Dundee North End *Forfarshire Junior Consolation Cup: 1940-41 ; Individual *

Rex Kingsley Footballer of the Year The Rex Kingsley Footballer of the Year was an award given annually to the Scottish footballer who was adjudged to have been the best of that year (calendar year and not season) in Scottish football between 1951–1964. The award was handed out by ...

: Inaugural, 1951 *

Scottish Sports Hall of Fame The Scottish Sports Hall of Fame is the national sports hall of fame of Scotland, set up in 2002. It is a joint project organised by sportscotland, the national governmental body for Scottish sport, and National Museums Scotland. It is also funded ...

: 2003 *

Scottish Football Hall of Fame The Scottish Football Hall of Fame is located at the Scottish Football Museum. Nominations are made each year by fans and a committee selects the inductees. The first inductions to the Hall of Fame were in November 2004 in a ceremony at Hampden Pa ...

: 2004 * Dundee Hall of Fame: Legends Award 2012 * Hibernian Hall of Fame: Inaugural inductee, 2010

References

External links

*
London Hearts profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Gordon 1924 births 2004 deaths Footballers from Edinburgh Association football wingers Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Hibernian F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Drumcondra F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish Football League players League of Ireland players Scottish expatriate footballers Expatriate association footballers in the Republic of Ireland Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees Scottish Football League representative players Dundee North End F.C. players Scotland wartime international footballers