| Sydney Smith |
 Sydney Ernest Smith was born on Thursday, 4th February, 1886, in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The 5' 9 (12st 0lbs) forward signed for George Easton's Thistle on Saturday, 25th September, 1909, having most recently been with Glossop. Aged 23, he made his debut appearance on Monday, 27th September, 1909, in a 5-0 defeat away to Clyde in the SFL First Division. Sydney scored his first goal for Thistle on Saturday, 9th October, 1909, in a 3-1 win at home to Nithsdale Wanderers in the Scottish Qualifying Cup. He scored the last of his 7 goals on Saturday, 15th January, 1910, in a 3-2 win at home to St Mirren in the SFL First Division. He played his last game for the club on Monday, 25th April, 1910, in a 3-1 friendly defeat away to Maryhill / Glasgow Perthshire XI, having appeared as a Jag on 21 occasions. His club-list included Glossop, Partick Thistle and Eccles Borough. Sydney died on Saturday, 24th November, 1956, in Luton, Bedfordshire, aged 70. |
 The son of Ebeneezer Smith (1845-1893) and Ellen Smith (1846-1901, née Copley). Sydney was the 12th of 16 children, although 3 of them died in their infancy. After season horribilis 1908-09 in which homeless Partick Thistle finished rock bottom of the First Division, it was all change for the club. With a new home secured in Maryhill, the directorate were keen to give the locals a team worth supporting. Smith (Glossop) was one of four players recruited from English football in the summer of 1909, alongside Tom Callaghan (Manchester City), Maurice Parry (Liverpool) and Alec Raisbeck (Liverpool). All 4 featured in our scoring charts during that term, Smith being top of the new recruits in that department with 7 goals in all competitions, the third placed scorer in the team all-in. The centre-forward had been playing Second Division football with the Glossop side who went all the way to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in 1908–09 where they lost to 1–0 to eventual finalists Bristol City in a replay on 10 March 1909. The club's chairman and benefactor at the time was Sir Samuel Hill-Wood, who was later to become chairman of Arsenal. His Firhill goalscoring record was deemed unsatisfactory though, and George Elmore (Blackpool) was brought in as his replacement the following season, a move which paid off handsomely as Elmore topped the charts with 16 goals and Thistle's form greatly improved. Smith's professional registration papers were retained in Glasgow, but he returned to England and played with Eccles Borogh who became Lancashire Combination Champions in 1912-13. Sydney moved backed south and married Hilda Louise Dexter in 1914, in London. They were the parents of at least one son. |
| (WS/JK) |
