Alex Smith MBE (born 25 December 1939) is a Scottish former football player and manager. His major achievements over close to five decades as a manager include winning the Scottish Cup in 1987 with St Mirren and 1990 with Aberdeen, where he also won the Scottish League Cup in 1989. He had a role in the development of many prominent players,[1] and the 2005 book on Scottish football, The Final Whistle? was described as "the nearest thing the Scottish game has to a father figure".
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 25 December 1939 | ||
| Place of birth | Cowie, Scotland | ||
| Position(s) | Inside forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Gowanhill United | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1958–1959 | Kilmarnock | 0 | (0) |
| 1959–1962 | Stenhousemuir | 39 | (9) |
| 1962–1965 | Stirling Albion | 51 | (11) |
| 1965–1966 | East Stirlingshire | 12 | (4) |
| 1966–1968 | Albion Rovers | 23 | (0) |
| 1968–1970 | Stenhousemuir | 23 | (0) |
| Total | 148 | (24) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1968–1974 | Stenhousemuir | ||
| 1974–1986 | Stirling Albion | ||
| Scotland U18 | |||
| 1986–1988 | St Mirren | ||
| 1988–1992 | Aberdeen | ||
| 1992–1996 | Clyde | ||
| 1998–2002 | Scotland U21 | ||
| 2000–2002 | Dundee United | ||
| 2002–2005 | Ross County | ||
| 2013 | Falkirk (interim) | ||
| 2017 | Falkirk (interim) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Biography
editSmith was born in Cowie, a mining village close to Stirling, and played in the same youth team as Billy Bremner. He was best man at Bremner's wedding. His playing career was journeymanlike, and he played for Kilmarnock, Stenhousemuir, Stirling Albion and Albion Rovers.
His managerial career began in 1968 with Stenhousemuir.[2] In 1974, he became manager of Stirling Albion and would manage the club for 12 years, winning the Second Division championship in 1977.[1] Stirling Albion remained in the second tier for four seasons, and were relegated in 1981 after failing to score a league goal for three months;[3] Smith nonetheless remained at the club until 1986 when he moved to St Mirren, with whom he won the Scottish Cup in 1987, overcoming that season's UEFA Cup finalists Dundee United with a young, all-Scottish team in a surprise result which endured as one of the Paisley club's most treasured achievements.[4][5]
Smith and co-manager Jocky Scott succeeded Ian Porterfield at Aberdeen in 1988. For the next three seasons the Dons were the main rivals to Rangers, finishing runners-up in each of those seasons.[6] New players were brought in, several from Dutch football including Theo Snelders and Hans Gillhaus, along with youth prospects such as Eoin Jess and Stephen Wright.[5] In 1989–90 Aberdeen won the double of the League Cup (beating Rangers after losing to them the previous year) and Scottish Cup (in a penalty shootout against Celtic),[5] and in 1990–91 went into their final game at Ibrox needing only a draw to win the Scottish Premier Division championship on goals scored; a 2–0 defeat courtesy of a Mark Hateley brace sealed a third straight title for Rangers.[6] Aberdeen began the next season well, including a win at Ibrox, but early exits from the League Cup and UEFA Cup followed; Scott left in September 1991 to take over at Dunfermline Athletic, and a further slump in form resulted in Smith's dismissal in February 1992.[6][5][7]
Smith would later manage Clyde, Dundee United and Ross County. He later worked as technical director at Falkirk. In June 2009 he was appointed assistant to the then head coach Eddie May.[8] In March 2013 he was appointed interim manager at the club following the departure of Steven Pressley.[9] He was again placed in interim charge in September 2017, after Peter Houston left.[10] Smith was 77 years old, which made him the oldest manager of a professional football club in Europe at the time.[2]
Smith was involved with Scotland at a number of levels, managing the U18 and U21 sides. He also took charge of the Scotland B squad in January 2007, alongside Bobby Williamson.[11]
He retired from football at the end of the 2017–18 season to emigrate to Australia with his wife.[12][1][5]
Smith was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2005 Birthday Honours for services to sport in Scotland.[13]
Managerial statistics
edit| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| Stenhousemuir[14] | 1 August 1968 | 1 September 1974 | 218 | 68 | 42 | 108 | 31.19 |
| Stirling[15] | 1 September 1974 | 16 December 1986 | 552 | 203 | 155 | 194 | 36.78 |
| St Mirren[16] | 17 December 1986 | 31 May 1988 | 72 | 20 | 20 | 32 | 27.78 |
| Aberdeen[6] | 1 August 1988 | 10 February 1992 | 178 | 91 | 39 | 48 | 51.12 |
| Clyde[17] | 1 August 1992 | September 1996 | 186 | 65 | 49 | 72 | 34.95 |
| Scotland U21[18] | October 1998 | 14 March 2002 | 23 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 34.78 |
| Dundee United | 8 August 2000 | 7 October 2002 | 99 | 31 | 45 | 23 | 31.31 |
| Ross County | 27 November 2002 | 11 June 2005 | 112 | 39 | 45 | 28 | 34.82 |
| Falkirk (interim) | 8 March 2013 | 3 April 2013 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 60.00 |
| Falkirk (interim) | 24 September 2017 | 7 October 2017 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Total | 1,447 | 530 | 402 | 515 | 36.63 | ||
Honours
editPlayer
editStirling Albion
Manager
editStenhousemuir
- Stirlingshire Cup: 1970–71
Stirling Albion
- Scottish Second Division: 1976–77
- Stirlingshire Cup: 1976–77, 1977–78, 1983–84
St Mirren
Aberdeen (co-manager with Jocky Scott)
- Scottish Cup: 1989–90
- Scottish League Cup: 1989–90
- Runners-up: 1988–89
- Aberdeenshire Cup: 1989–90,1990–91
Clyde
Springfield United
- Australia - FQPL5 Metro Premiership: 2022
- Australia - FQPL5 Metro Grand Final: 2022
- Australia - SUFC Cup: 2021, 2022
Individual
- SPL Manager of the Month: March 2001, May 2001, January 2002[19]
References
edit- ^ a b c Alex Smith says 'it's all been worth it for the memories' as football legend prepares to retire, Gordon Parks, Daily Record, 28 April 2018
- ^ a b McLauchlin, Brian (29 September 2017). "Falkirk interim boss Alex Smith to be oldest manager in Europe this weekend". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ "Results for Stirling Albion for 1980-81". London Hearts. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- ^ Alex Smith reflects on St Mirren's 1987 Scottish Cup triumph 30 years on, Craig Ritchie, Daily Record, 16 May 2017
- ^ a b c d e RedMatchday Interview | The Alex Smith Story, Malcolm Panton, Aberdeen FC, 14 June 2018
- ^ a b c d Managers | Alex Smith, AFC Heritage Trust
- ^ 'Fan power was on the rampage': How Alex Smith paid the price for Aberdeen's troubled 1991-92 season, Neil Drysdale, Press & Journal, 11 October 2021
- ^ http://www.falkirkfc.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4281&Itemid=1 Falkirk FC | New Coaching Team
- ^ "Falkirk: Alex Smith interim boss after Steven Pressley exit". BBC Sport. BBC. 8 March 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
- ^ Oliver, David (24 September 2017). "BREAKING: Peter Houston no longer Falkirk manager". Falkirk Herald. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
- ^ "Gow & McGregor given Scots chance". BBC Sport. BBC. 30 January 2007.
- ^ "Alex Smith: Falkirk technical director to retire from football". BBC Sport. BBC. 28 March 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
- ^ "2005 Birthday Honours". The London Gazette. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
- ^ (Stenhousemuir manager) Smith, Alec, FitbaStats
- ^ (Stirling Albion manager) Smith, Alex, FitbaStats
- ^ (St Mirren manager) Smith, Alex, FitbaStats
- ^ (Clyde manager) Smirh, Alex [sic], FitbaStats
- ^ (Scotland U21 manager) Smith, Alex, FitbaStats
- ^ "Scottish Premier League / Scottish Professional Football League Manager and Player of the Month Award 2000-01 to 2018-19". My Football Facts. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
- Reid, Harry (2005), The Final Whistle?, Birlinn, ISBN 1-84158-362-6
- Grant, Michael and Robertson, Rob (2010), The Management, Birlinn, ISBN 978-1-84158-819-3