George Smith (soccer)
{{Short description|Australian soccer player (born 1907 or 1908)}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = George Smith
| image =
| full_name =
| birth_date = 1907 or 1908
| birth_place = Coledale, Australia
| height = 1.82 m
| position = Forward
| youthyears1 =
| youthclubs1 =
| years1 = 1926–1930
| clubs1 = Corrimal
| caps1 = 38
| goals1 = 69
| years2 = 1931
| clubs2 = Gladesville-Ryde
| caps2 = 6
| goals2 = 5
| years3 = 1932
| clubs3 = Corrimal
| caps3 = 17
| goals3 = 41
| years4 = 1933–1935
| clubs4 = St George
| caps4 = 55+
| goals4 = 95+
| years5 = 1936
| clubs5 = Granville-Clyde
| caps5 = 13
| goals5 = 17
| years6 = 1937
| clubs6 = St George
| caps6 = 19
| goals6 = 41
| years7 = 1938–1939
| clubs7 = Metters
| caps7 = 26
| goals7 = 26
| years8 = 1940
| clubs8 = Leichhardt-Annandale
| caps8 = 13
| goals8 = 16
| years9 = 1941
| clubs9 = Wollongong
| caps9 = 10+
| goals9 = 23
| years10 = 1943
| clubs10 = Woonona-Bulli
| caps10 =
| goals10 =
| totalcaps = 193
| totalgoals = 328+ve.nla.gov.au
| nationalyears1 = 1933–1936
| nationalteam1 = Australia
| nationalcaps1 = 6
| nationalgoals1 = 16
}}
George Smith was an Australian professional soccer player who played as a forward.{{cite book|first=Andrew|last=Howe|year=2018|title=Encyclopedia of Socceroos: Every national team player|isbn=978-0-648-13330-8|publisher=Fair Play Publishing}} He captained the Australia national soccer team in 1933. Often considered the best centre-forward in Australian soccer in the 1930s, he had an average of 2.66 goals per game for Australia and has had many goalscoring records throughout his 17-year career.
Club career
Smith played for a number of clubs in the Sydney and Wollongong areas including Corrimal,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246336325 |title=George Smith Has a Great Record |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |volume=2 |issue=82 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=20 May 1932 |access-date=24 December 2020 |page=2 (The Daily Telegraph Special Football Supplement) |via=National Library of Australia}} where he was the NSW top goalscorer for the 1932 season with 44 goals and St George up to 1936 where he scored 25 goals in 1933 and 51 goals in 1935.{{Cite book|title=Jack Pollard's Soccer Records|last=Grant|first=Sid|publisher=Jack Pollard Pty Ltd|year=1974|isbn=0909950741|location=North Sydney|pages=118}}{{Cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246609006|title=Soccer|newspaper=Daily Telegraph |date=2 September 1935|pages=3|via=Trove}} He then played for Granville and Leichhardt-Annandale. Throughout his career, Smith scored a total of 651 goals.{{cite web | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/247995457?searchTerm=quill%20charity%20match%20soccer | title=Soccer Sharpshooter Heads for 1000 Goals | newspaper=Daily Telegraph | date=3 July 1942 }}
=Granville-Clyde=
Before the start of the 1936 NSW football, Smith signed for Granville-Clyde.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142414584 |title=Soccer Season Begins |newspaper=Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate |issue=18,545 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=21 March 1936 |access-date=24 December 2020 |page=19 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{Cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article236364835|title=Soccer Season Opens|newspaper=Daily News |date=23 March 1940|pages=10|via=Trove}}
=Metters=
On 17 March 1938, Smith joined Metters.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article166708550 |title=Changes by Soccer Selectors |newspaper=The Newcastle Sun |issue=6319 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=17 March 1938 |access-date=24 December 2020 |page=17 |via=National Library of Australia}} In May 1939, Smith refused to play with Metters after the team was relegated to the reserve grade, he said that if he was not good enough to play in the first-grade he would rather watch the games.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article134190804|title=Offers Made to George Smith|newspaper=Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate|issue=19,536|location=New South Wales, Australia|date=23 May 1939|access-date=24 December 2020|page=11|via=National Library of Australia}} He was dropped from Metters to seek a new club to join. He received offers from two clubs Leichhardt-Annandale and Woonona-Bulli to seek his transfer.
=Wollongong=
Saturday 21 June 1941, Smith made his transfer to Wollongong for £20 and on the same day he played against his former team St George. He announced his arrival in some style as he scored 6 goals to beat St George 10–0.{{cite web | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/231448120?searchTerm=wollongong%20smith | title=Soccer Selection Shocks; Upset for Leichhardt in Premiership | newspaper=Sun | date=22 June 1941 }}
International career
Smith began his international career with Australia as captain in an international friendly, debuting in a 4–2 win over New Zealand scoring two goals. He became the first player to score a hat-trick for Australia in a 6–4 win against New Zealand.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11891344 |title=Second Soccer Test |newspaper=The Argus (Melbourne) |issue=28,048 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=13 July 1936 |access-date=4 December 2020 |page=15 |via=National Library of Australia}} He scored seven goals in the three-match test series all against New Zealand in 1933.{{cite web|url=http://www.ozfootball.net/museum/socceroocaps.pdf|title=The Australian National Men's Football Team: Caps And Captains|work=Football Federation Australia|publisher=ozfootball.net|access-date=23 June 2009}} Smith was part of New South Wales' team, where he started and scored against his captained international team Australia.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17320953 |title=N.S.W. SUPREME |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=30,681 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=4 May 1936 |access-date=11 January 2021 |page=13 |via=National Library of Australia}} He returned to Australia's team with the captaincy given to Alec Cameron. He continued his outstanding goalscoring record by scoring four goals when Australia won 7–1 in July 1936 at Logan Park, Dunedin. A week later, Smith made another record by scoring five goals as he broke the record for most goals in an international match for Australia. For the first time in his national career, Smith failed to score when Australia won 4–1 over New Zealand. A year later, Smith retired from international football.{{cite web | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/142677502?searchTerm=st%20george%20woonona%20smith | title=SOCCER | newspaper=South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus | date=7 May 1937 }} Smith held the record as top goalscorer for Australia for 37 years, until the record was overtaken by Attila Abonyi in March 1973.{{cite web|url=https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/george-smith|title=George Smith|date=16 December 2021 |accessdate=8 December 2022|publisher=Football Australia}} On 3 May 1937, Smith announced his retirement from international football.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17365262 |title=George Smith Retires |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=30,993 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=4 May 1937 |access-date=4 December 2020 |page=15 |via=National Library of Australia}}
Personal life
Career statistics
=Club=
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:100%; text-align: center;"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season, and competition. Only official games are included in this table.{{Cite web|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/|title=Trove|website=trove.nla.gov.au|accessdate=15 July 2023}} | |||||||||
| rowspan=2|Club
!rowspan=2|Season !colspan=2|League !colspan=2|State Premiership !colspan=2|State League Cup !colspan=2|Other !colspan=2|Total | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps
!Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals | |||||||||
| rowspan=5|Corrimal
|1926 |15+ | 29+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3+ | 2+ | 18+ | 31+ |
| 1927
|13+ | 21+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2+ | 4+ | 14+ | 25+ |
| 1928
|7+ | 12+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3+ | 3+ | 10+ | 15+ |
| 1929
|2+ | 5+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2+ | 1+ | 4+ | 6+ |
| 1930
|1+ | 2+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+ | 0+ | 2+ | 2+ |
| rowspan=1|Gladesville
|1931 |6+ | 5+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6+ | 5+ |
| rowspan=1|Corrimal
|1932 |17 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 45 |
| rowspan=3|St George
|1933 |11 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 28 |
| 1934
|21+ | 29+ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 23+ | 31+ |
| 1935
|18 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 42 |
| rowspan=1|Granville
|1936 |13 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 17 |
| rowspan=1|St George
|1937 |19 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 42 |
| rowspan=2|Metters
|1938 |22 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 30 |
| 1939
|5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| rowspan=1|Leichhardt
|1940 |13 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 17 |
| rowspan=1|Metters
|1941 |10+ | 23+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10+ | 23+ |
| rowspan=2|Wollongong
|1943 |0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| |Total
!193+ | 328+ | 0 | 0 | 20 | 25 | 13+ | 10+ | 226+ | 363+ |
=International=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" | ||
| rowspan="2" |National team | rowspan="2" |Year | colspan="2" |Competitive
! colspan="2" |Friendly ! colspan="2" |Total |
|---|---|---|
| Apps
!Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals | ||
| rowspan="2"|Australia
|1933 |0 |0 |3 |7 |3 |7 | ||
| 1936
|0 |0 |3 |9 |3 |9 | ||
| colspan=2|Career total
!0 !0 !6 !16 !6 !16 |
:Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Australia goal.
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by George Smith |
| scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date !scope="col"|Venue !scope="col"|Opponent !scope="col"|Score !scope="col"|Result !scope="col"|Competition !scope="col" class="unsortable"|{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
|---|
| style="text-align:center"|1
|rowspan="2"|{{dts|5 June 1933}} |rowspan="2"|Brisbane Exhibition Ground, Brisbane, Australia |rowspan="2"|{{fb|NZL}} |style="text-align:center"|– |rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" {{won|4–2}} |rowspan="2"|Friendly |rowspan="2"|{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article181194989 |title=SOCCER TEST AT EXHIBITION |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=Queensland, Australia |date=5 June 1933 |accessdate=21 December 2022 |page=3 (CITY FINAL LAST MINUTE NEWS) |via=National Library of Australia}} |
| style="text-align:center"|2
|style="text-align:center"|– |
| style="text-align:center"|3
|rowspan="3"|{{dts|17 June 1933}} |rowspan="3"|Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia |rowspan="3"|{{fb|NZL}} |style="text-align:center"|1–0 |rowspan="3" style="text-align:center" {{won|6–4}} |rowspan="3"|Friendly |rowspan="3"|{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16963815 |title=ASSOCIATION RULES. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=29,784 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=19 June 1933 |accessdate=21 December 2022 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}} |
| style="text-align:center"|4
|style="text-align:center"|2–0 |
| style="text-align:center"|5
|style="text-align:center"|5–0 |
| style="text-align:center"|6
|rowspan="2"|{{dts|24 June 1933}} |rowspan="2"|Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia |rowspan="2"|{{fb|NZL}} |style="text-align:center"|3–2 |rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" {{won|4–2}} |rowspan="2"|Friendly |rowspan="2"|{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article97707240 |title=THIRD VICTORY |newspaper=Sunday Mail |issue=526 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=25 June 1933 |accessdate=21 December 2022 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}} |
| style="text-align:center"|7
|style="text-align:center"|4–2 |
| style="text-align:center"|8
|rowspan="4"|{{dts|4 July 1936}} |rowspan="4"|Logan Park, Dunedin, New Zealand |rowspan="4"|{{fb|NZL}} |style="text-align:center"|3–1 |rowspan="4" style="text-align:center" {{won|7–1}} |rowspan="4"|Friendly |rowspan="4"|{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146015508 |title=AUSTRALIA WINS SOCCER TEST. |newspaper=The Australian Worker |volume=45 |issue=28 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=8 July 1936 |accessdate=21 December 2022 |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia}} |
| style="text-align:center"|9
|style="text-align:center"|4–1 |
| style="text-align:center"|10
|style="text-align:center"|6–1 |
| style="text-align:center"|11
|style="text-align:center"|7–1 |
| style="text-align:center"|12
|rowspan="5"|{{dts|11 July 1936}} |rowspan="5"|Basin Reserve, Wellington, New Zealand |rowspan="5"|{{fb|NZL}} |style="text-align:center"|– |rowspan="5" style="text-align:center" {{won|10–0}} |rowspan="5"|Friendly |rowspan="5"|{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146018475 |title=AUSTRALIA'S SOCCER SUCCESS. |newspaper=The Australian Worker |volume=45 |issue=29 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=15 July 1936 |accessdate=21 December 2022 |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia}} |
| style="text-align:center"|13
|style="text-align:center"|– |
| style="text-align:center"|14
|style="text-align:center"|7–0 |
| style="text-align:center"|15
|style="text-align:center"|8–0 |
| style="text-align:center"|16
|style="text-align:center"|9–0 |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Players/S/SI.html Australian Players Database] at Ozfootball.
{{Football Federation Australia Hall of Fame}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, George}}
Category:Australian men's soccer players
Category:Australia men's international soccer players