William Smith, commonly known as Stockport Smith, 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 lea ...

. His regular position was as an

inside right In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

, but he also played in various other

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

positions and even as a

wing half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

on occasion. He played for

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, and

Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial ...

. He joined Manchester City from Stockport in 1897 and scored 22 goals in 54 league appearances in three years at the club. He is often confused with another William Smith who played for Manchester City at the same time; because of this, they were known to Manchester City fans by the clubs they were signed from; this William Smith is referred to as "Stockport Smith" and the other as "

Buxton Smith William "Buxton" Smith was an English footballer. He played at half-back for Buxton and Manchester City. He is often confused with another William Smith who played for Manchester City at the same time; because of this, they were known to Manch ...

". Smith rejoined Stockport in 1900, but was unable to reproduce his goalscoring feats and moved on to Newton Heath for their final season before they were renamed as Manchester United. He made his Newton Heath debut on 14 September 1901, playing at outside right for a 5–0 defeat away to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. His only goal for Newton Heath may have come on 5 October 1901 in a 3–3 home draw with his former club, Stockport County, although this goal is credited to Alf Schofield by some sources. No record of Smith's football career exists beyond the 1901–02 season.

External links

Profile
at StretfordEnd.co.uk

Wigan Observer: 27 December 1905: Page 8, column 3 English men's footballers Stockport County F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Men's association football forwards Year of birth missing Year of death missing Place of birth missing {{England-footy-forward-stub