| Reggie Smith |
| see also: Reggie Smith (opposition manager) → |
 James Christopher Reginald Smith was born on Saturday, 20th January, 1912, in Battersea, London. The 5' 10 (11st 8lbs) forward temporarily transferred to Donald Turner's Thistle in January, 1943, from his parent club, Millwall. Aged 31, he made his debut appearance on Saturday, 30th January, 1943, in a 5-1 defeat at home to Hibernian in the Southern League. Reggie scored his first goal for Thistle on Saturday, 6th February, 1943, in a 1-1 draw away to Motherwell in the Southern League. He scored the last of his 4 goals on Saturday, 13th March, 1943, in a 5-1 win at home to Motherwell in the Southern League Cup. He played his last game for the club on Saturday, 29th May, 1943, in a 7-0 defeat away to Hibernian in the Summer Cup, having appeared as a Jag on 9 occasions. His club-list included Pirton, Hitchin Town, Tottenham Hotspur, Northfleet United, St Albans City, Millwall, Partick Thistle, Dundee and Corby Town. Reggie died on Tuesday, 6th January, 2004, in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, aged 91. |
 Reggie was born in London in 1912, and came from a sporting family, with his father being a South African rugby internationalist. As a 7-year-old, Reggie, his 4-year-old sister and parents moved to South Africa on 27 August 1919. Later, Reggie moved back to the UK. In 1931, Reggie played for amateur side Hitchin Town, and subsequently had spells as an amateur with Tottenham Hotspur, Northfleet United and St Albans City. He was back playing with Hitchin when the club won the Spartan League in 1935. In the same year Reggie married Winifred M. Whitell, the marriage being registered in Hitchin in June 1935. It was soon after this when he signed professional terms with Milwall - wives don't come cheap! In 1936-37, Reggie helped the club get to the semi-final of the FA Cup, quite a feat for a lowly ranked side. The following season saw the Lions win the Division 3 South title. Reggie (despite playing in the Second Division) was awarded 2 full England caps in 1938. In his maiden international on 9 November 1938 he scored 2 goals in the 4-0 victory over Norway at St James' Park, Newcastle. On 16 November 1938, he won his 2nd cap against Ireland at Old Trafford, Manchester, England winning by 7 goals to nil. Reggie joined the RAF when war broke out, and as such made sporadic appearances for Millwall, as his service requirements came first. He was posted to RAF Leuchers in Fife, a Coastal Command station at that time. In 1943, he temporarily joined the Jags, and in his 9 appearances he scored 4 goals. Reggie was known as a winger with a powerful shot, and was comfortable with both feet. At Thistle, he played in the inside-left position, with a solo appearance in the number 11 jersey. He opened the scoring in Thistle’s 5-1 victory over Albion Rovers at Cliftonville in a Southern League fixture on 13 February 1943. The following month, Thistle beat Motherwell 5-1 and Reggie “cracked in a 30-yard volley”. That was the player’s final goal for the club. He also played for Dundee as a guest during the war. He returned to Millwall post-war, but went back to Dundee in 1946, and in the 1946-47 season was in their B-Division winning side. 1948 saw Reggie become player-manager of Corby Town, and from 1954 to 1957 he was the manager of Dundee United. He didn’t have any issues finding his way there! He left United in 1957, for Falkirk. The club won the Scottish Cup in the 1956-57 season, beating Kilmarnock 2-1 in a Cup Final replay. Reggie returned to Millwall and the Den in 1959, but subsequently was sacked. Reggie went back to South Africa, managing several sides there during the 1960’s. He returned to England, and in the 1971-72 season became manager of Bedford Town. He also had a short spell as assistant manager at Stevenage Athletic before retiring from football. Reggie passed away in January 2004 at the remarkable age of 91. |
| (DMAC) |
Historian's note: It's commonly reported that the original family name (and for Reggie himself) was "Schmidt", but the EFO site states that on the birth certificate (registered in Wandsworth, March 1912) our man was plainly named as "Smith".
