Gordon Smith (footballer, born 1924)

Gordon Smith
Personal information
Date of birth	25 May 1924
Place of birth	Edinburgh, Scotland
Date of death	7 August 2004 (aged 80)
Place of death	North Berwick, Scotland
Position(s)	Outside right
Youth career
	Montrose Roselea
–1941	Dundee North End
Senior career*
National team
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Gordon Smith (25 May 1924 – 7 August 2004) was a Scottish footballer. He is the only player to have won a Scottish league championship with three clubs: Hibernian, Heart of Midlothian, and Dundee. Smith also represented Scotland and the Scottish League XI.

Club career

Hibernian

Born in Edinburgh, Smith spent most of his childhood in Montrose in Angus and showed great footballing promise playing for Montrose Roselea and Dundee North End. Smith was to return to Edinburgh to pursue a career as a professional. It wasn't to be with his boyhood favourites Heart of Midlothian,[1] but their cross-town rivals Hibernian. The "Gay Gordon" soon established himself as an idol for a whole generation of post-war football fans. Smith had been due to sign for Hearts, but the 16-year-old was signed by Hibs and played against their Edinburgh rivals on his debut, scoring a hat-trick in a 5–3 victory on 28 April 1941.[2]

Alongside Bobby Johnstone, Lawrie Reilly, Eddie Turnbull, and Willie Ormond, 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, 1952), while 1953 saw Rangers pip Hibs only through the goal average system. Smith was less successful in cup competition however, reaching only one Scottish Cup Final with Hibs, which they lost 2–1 to Aberdeen 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.[3] Smith paid for an operation on the offending ankle himself, and then he signed for Hearts.[3] He was to enjoy immediate success at Tynecastle, winning both the league and the League Cup in his first season with the club.[3]

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 winning side in 1962. 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.

In the following season Smith was paired in a forward line with Alan Gilzean. They helped Dundee to the European Cup semi-finals, where they performed gallantly in an aggregate defeat to A.C. Milan. After leaving Dundee, he played briefly for Drumcondra in the Republic of Ireland, before finally retiring at the end of the 1963–64 season.[3][4]

International career

During his playing career, Gordon Smith was capped 19 times by Scotland, scoring four goals. Smith was compared with his English contemporaries Stanley Matthews and Tom Finney,[1][5] but he did not appear to have a "big-match temperament".[1] Smith had to compete for selection with Rangers winger Willie Waddell, who was capped 17 times in the same period.[1][3] In addition to his appearances for the national team, Smith appeared 11 times for the Scottish League XI.[6]

Outside football

On a BBC Alba documentary about the Famous Five, it was mentioned that Gordon appeared as an extra in the film To Catch a Thief.

Gordon was a lover of fast cars and once owned a Porsche. During the football breaks he would spend his holidays in the south of France. He had a taste for jazz and particularly for Sidney Bechet, the great saxophonist who took up residence in Paris.

He was licensee of the Edinburgh pub called 'The Right Wing'.

Career statistics

International appearances

As of 4 March 2019[7][8][9][10]

International statistics
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Scotland	1946	2	0
	1947	2	0
	1948	3	0
	1949	—
	1950	—
	1951	—
	1952	2	0
	1953	—
	1954	—
	1955	6	3
	1956	1	0
	1957	3	1
Total		19	4

International goals