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 lea ...

. He is the only player to have won a

Scottish league championship The Scottish League Championship is the domestic rugby union league system within Scotland. Operated by the Scottish Rugby Union, the championship was founded in 1973 as the first formalised national league system within any home nations country. ...

with three clubs:

Hibernian Hibernian may refer to: * Of Hibernia, Latin name for Ireland; hence ** Irish (disambiguation) Hibernian, Hibernians or The Hibernian may refer to: Sports clubs * Hibernian F.C., a Scottish football club, founded 1875 * Hibernian W.F.C., a Sc ...

, Heart of Midlothian, and

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. Smith also represented

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

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: *Angus, Scotland, a council area of Scotland, and formerly a province, sheriffdom, county and district of Scotland * Angus, Canada, a community in Essa, Ontario Animals * Angus cattle, various breeds of beef cattle Media * ...

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

Montrose Academy Montrose Academy is a Mixed-sex education, 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 for ...

, 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 Wick ...

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 Lochee Harp Football Club are a Scottish Junior football club historically based in the Lochee area of the city of Dundee. Formed in 1904 and nicknamed ''"the Harp"'', they play at Lochee Community Sports Hub. The team moved into this new groun ...

'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. Johnstone ...

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 ...

Eddie Turnbull Edward Hunter Turnbull (12 April 1923 – 30 April 2011) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He played as a forward for Hibernian and Scotland, forming part of the Hibs " Famous Five" forward line. He then had successful s ...

, 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 and ...

, Smith became part of the "

Famous Five ''The Famous Five'' is a series of children's adventure novels and short stories written by English author Enid Blyton. The first book, ''Five on a Treasure Island'', was published in 1942. The novels feature the adventures of a group of you ...

", 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 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

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 Uni ...

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

), while

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

saw

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

pip Hibs only through the

goal average A goal or objective 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 ...

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 wo ...

with Hibs, which they lost 2–1 to

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

. 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 his first season with the club. After an injury-plagued second season with Hearts, Smith was

released Released may refer to: * Released (Jade Warrior album), ''Released'' (Jade Warrior album), 1971 * Released (Patti LaBelle album), ''Released'' (Patti LaBelle album), 1980 * ''Released: 1985–1995'', an album by Kronos Quartet, 1995 * ''Released'' ...

and again the football writers prepared obituaries for the veteran's career.

Dundee

Smith was to again confound contemporary wisdom, signing for

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 * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

winning side in

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

. 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 a collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded i ...

. 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 fo ...

. They helped Dundee to the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

semi-finals, where they performed gallantly in an aggregate defeat to

A.C. Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

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

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

, 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 e ...

19 times by

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

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English Association football, footballer who played as an Forward (association football)#Outside forward, outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the Br ...

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 England' ...

, but he did not appear to have a "big-match temperament". Smith had to compete for selection with

winger

Willie Waddell William Waddell (7 March 1921 – 14 October 1992) was a professional football player and manager. His only club in a 16-year career as a player in the outside right position (interrupted by World War II) was Rangers which yielded six major w ...

, 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 The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional association football, football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers F.C., Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tw ...

: 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. It ...

: 1944–45 ; Heart of Midlothian *

Scottish Division One The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct 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 k ...

: 1959–60 *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports 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 ...

: 1959–60 ; Dundee *

: 1961–62 ; Scotland *

British Home Championship The British Home Championship (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Championship) was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams: England, Scotlan ...

: 1955–56 (shared) ; Dundee North End *Forfarshire Junior Consolation Cup: 1940-41 ; Individual * Rex Kingsley Footballer of the Year: 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 P ...

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

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Gordon 1924 births 2004 deaths Footballers from Edinburgh Men's association football wingers Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's 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 men's footballers Expatriate men's 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 men's wartime international footballers Footballers from Montrose, Angus Montrose Roselea F.C. players Kirriemuir Thistle F.C. players