Sammy Smyth

This article is about the footballer. For the Irish loyalist, see Sammy Smyth (loyalist).

Sammy Smyth
Personal information
Full name	Samuel Smyth^[1]
Date of birth	(1925-02-25)25 February 1925
Place of birth	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Date of death	19 October 2016(2016-10-19) (aged 91)
Place of death	Grand Cayman
Playing position	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1942–1945	Distillery
1945–1947	Linfield
1947	Dundela
1947–1951	Wolverhampton Wanderers	102	(34)
1951–1953	Stoke City	40	(17)
1953–1954	Liverpool	44	(20)
1954	Bangor
Total		186	(71)
National team
1948–1952	Northern Ireland	9	(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Samuel "Sammy" Smyth (25 February 1925 – 19 October 2016) was a Northern Irish footballer who played in the Football League for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Stoke City and Liverpool.^[1]

Career

Smyth was born in Belfast in 1925^[1] and played for local clubs Distillery, Linfield and Dundela in the Irish League before being signed by English Football League side Wolverhampton Wanderers in July 1947 for a fee of £1,100.^[1] Despite taking Wolves to third place in the 1946–47 season manager Ted Vizard was replaced by his assistant Stan Cullis in June 1948. The following year Cullis led Wolves to the FA Cup final against Leicester City, Jesse Pye scoring two goals in the first half and Smyth netting another in the 68th minute.^[1] The following season Wolves finished in 2nd place in the First Division. He had scored 43 goals in 116 cup and league appearances for Wolves.^[1]

In September 1951 Stoke City paid a club record fee of £25,000 to Wolves for Smyth in a bid to help them avoid relegation after an awful start to the 1951–52 season.^[1] Smyth had the desired impact at the Victoria Ground as he scored 12 vital goals as Stoke escaped the drop by three points.^[1] He scored five goals in 14 matches in 1952–53 before being sold to Liverpool in January 1953 for a fee of £12,000.^[1] Smyth made his debut for his new club against the side he just departed, Stoke just days later. He spent two seasons at Anfield scoring 20 goals in 44 appearances.^[1]

After football

Smyth returned to Belfast where he played for Bangor and also worked as a bookmaker. He later opened his own sports distribution business which sold sports equipment throughout Ireland. He and his wife Enid regularly traveled to the Caribbean to visit their daughter and after his wife's passing in 2002 he later moved to live with his daughter. ^[1]He died on 19 October 2016 at the age of 91 and was the last surviving player from the 1949 FA Cup winning team and the Stoke City team.^[2]

Career statistics

Sourced from Sammy Smyth profile at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Wolverhampton Wanderers	1947–48	First Division	30	8	0	0	30	8
	1948–49	First Division	39	16	7	6	46	21
	1949–50	First Division	29	9	6	3	35	12
	1950–51	First Division	3	0	0	0	3	0
	1951–52	First Division	1	1	0	0	1	1
	Total		102	34	13	9	115	42
Stoke City	1951–52	First Division	26	12	4	2	30	14
	1952–53	First Division	14	5	0	0	14	5
	Total		40	17	4	2	44	19
Liverpool	1952–53	First Division	18	7	0	0	18	7
	1953–54	First Division	26	13	0	0	26	3
	Total		44	20	0	0	44	20
Career Total			186	71	17	11	203	82

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
↑ "Wolves FA Cup final hero and former Stoke and Liverpool star Sam Smyth dies at 91". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 23 October 2016.

External links

LFC profile
Northern Ireland profile
Sammy Smyth stats at Neil Brown stat site

Bangor F.C. – managers

Stevenson (1920–??)
Clennell (??–??)
Jones (??–1938)
Wright (??–??)
McDevitt (??–??)
Wylie (??–??)
Duff (??–??)
Green (??–??)
Hyde (??–??)
McKenzie (??–??)
Duffy (??–??)
Smyth (1955–??)
Hanna (??–??)
McDermott (1962–1964)
Tully (1964–1965)
McGuickan (1965–1968)
Hickson (1968)
Tully (1968–1971)
McMichael (1971–1972)
Bertie Neill (1972–??)
Billy Neill (??–??)
Emery (??–??)
Johnston (??–??)
Bertie Neill (??–??)
Halliday (??–??)
Humphries (1983–1985)
McQuillan (1985–1988)
Flanagan (1988–1992)
Best (1992–1994)
Collins (1994–1995)
Malone (1995)
Dougan & Dunlop (1995–1996)
McBride (1996–1997)
McCurdy (1997)
Chisholm (1997)
Campbell (1997–1999)
Fraser (1999–2001)
Doherty (2001–2003)
Halliday (2003–2005)
Dunlop (2005–2007)
Millar (2007–2008)
Quinn (2008–2009)
McCurdy (2009–2010)
Wilson (2010–2013)
Scates (2013–)

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