Paul Smith (footballer, born 1962)

Paul Smith (born 2 November 1962) is a Scottish former football player and manager.

For other people with the same name, see Paul Smith (disambiguation).

Paul Smith
Personal information
Date of birth (1962-11-02) 2 November 1962
Place of birth Currie, Scotland
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1980–1982 Dundee
1982 Dundee United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1982–1986 Raith Rovers 127 (50)
1986–1988 Motherwell 78 (13)
1988–1991 Dunfermline Athletic 99 (11)
1991–1992 Falkirk 51 (3)
1992–1995 Dunfermline Athletic 105 (16)
1995–1996 Heart of Midlothian 9 (0)
1996–1997 Ayr United 33 (9)
1997–1998 Berwick Rangers 3 (0)
Total 505 (102)
Teams managed
1997–2004 Berwick Rangers
2012 Raith Rovers (caretaker)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:33, 7 January 2009 (UTC)

Smith made his senior breakthrough with Raith Rovers in 1983. A combative midfielder, he enjoyed something of a journeyman career, encompassing spells with Motherwell, Dunfermline Athletic (twice), Falkirk, Heart of Midlothian, Ayr United and Berwick Rangers, where he was manager for seven years.

Career

After briefly being attached to both Dundee and Dundee United, Smith first joined Raith Rovers as a player in season 1982–83, and the following year he was joined by Keith Wright with whom he struck up a potent striking partnership, Smith scoring 34 goals and Wright 25 in 1984–85; the following season Smith notched up 27 goals to Wright's 28. 'Smudger' as he was affectionately known as a player, was sold to Motherwell in the summer of 1986[1] and also had spells with Dunfermline (making over 200 appearances over two spells), Falkirk, Hearts[2] and Ayr United before moving to Berwick Rangers in 1997.

Two months after his arrival at Shielfield Park, Smith was appointed manager, a post he held until 2004 where he got the club promoted to the Scottish Second Division. He later performed the role of assistant manager to Des McKeown at Stenhousemuir, until the pair's dismissal in November 2006. He later worked for Raith Rovers as assistant manager to Grant Murray; he had been assistant to John McGlynn when the club were promoted to the First Division, reached a Scottish Cup semi-final and just missed out on promotion to the SPL. He was also caretaker manager at Raith following the departure of McGlynn to Hearts, following which he was appointed to continue the assistant manager role by Murray.

See also

References
  1. Paul Smith, MotherWELLnet
  2. (Hearts player) Paul Smith, London Hearts Supporters Club
  • Paul Smith at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
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