Roger Smart (born 25 March 1943 in

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

) is an English retired

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

inside forward. He made his way from schoolboy teams to work up through the youth ranks at Swindon Town before making his début in the reserves in April 1960. He signed as a professional for the club in May 1960 but did not play first team football until March 1962. He scored his first goal for Swindon in a match with Queens Park Rangers on 1 September. Smart was relegated to the reserves for much of the 1962–63 season, before being recalled for the final three games of the season. He scored in each of these games and assured Swindon's promotion to Division 2 for the first time in their history. In 1965 he became the first nominated substitute to be used in a Swindon Town game. Over the next few seasons, Smart became a first-team regular, moving into a role that allowed fellow striker Don Rogers to excel. Smart's best form came in 1968/69, when he scored fifteen goals. Six of these came in the League Cup campaign, including the opening goal in the 1969 League Cup Final, when he benefited from a mistake in the

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

defence before bundling the ball into the net. He created Swindon's second and third goals, both scored by Rogers. He was also a part of the

1970 Anglo-Italian Cup The 1970 Anglo-Italian Cup was the inaugural Anglo-Italian Cup competition. The European football competition was played between clubs from England and Italy and was founded by Gigi Peronace in 1970, following the success of the Anglo-Italian Leagu ...

and Anglo-Italian League Cup winning sides. In the twilight of his Town career, Smart moved back into a wing-half or midfield position. He left Swindon at the end of the 1972/73 season, and joined Charlton Athletic on a free transfer. He returned to the Swindon area a year later, with spells at Bath City and

Trowbridge Town Trowbridge Town Football Club is a football club based in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England. They are currently champions of the and play at The Daykin Estates Ground, Woodmarsh, on the southern edge of the town. History A Trowbridge Town team ...

before retiring. As of 1999 he was landlord of the Plough Inn in Old Town, Swindon. Roger lives with his partner Lin, on the southern outskirts of Swindon.

References

External links

*
Player Profile
at Swindon-Town-FC.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Smart, Roger Living people 1943 births Association football forwards Charlton Athletic F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players English footballers Sportspeople from Swindon