 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Walter Ferguson Smith[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1948-02-24)24 February 1948[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Lanark, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 26 October 2021(2021-10-26) (aged 73)[1] | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Drumchapel Amateurs | |||
| Ashfield | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1966–1975 | Dundee United | 108 | (2) |
| 1967 | →Dallas Tornado (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 1975–1977 | Dumbarton | 44 | (0) |
| 1977–1980 | Dundee United | 26 | (0) |
| Total | 181 | (2) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1978–1982 | Scotland U18 | ||
| 1982–1986 | Scotland U21 | ||
| 1991–1998 | Rangers | ||
| 1998–2002 | Everton | ||
| 2004–2007 | Scotland | ||
| 2004–2006 | Scotland B | ||
| 2007–2011 | Rangers | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021)[2] was a Scottishfootball player,manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow clubRangers.
Adefender, Smith's playing career consisted of two spells withDundee United, split by a short time atDumbarton. A pelvic injury caused his retirement from playing and Smith moved into coaching at Dundee United, working for managerJim McLean. Smith also took charge of theScotland under-18 andunder-21 teams, and assistedScotland managerAlex Ferguson at the1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, after it had been announced that he would be moving toRangers as assistant toGraeme Souness.
Smith became the manager of Rangers in 1991, succeeding Souness. He won thirteen major trophies in seven years, including seven league titles in succession. After leaving Rangers at the end of the 1997–98 season, he was appointed manager of EnglishPremier League clubEverton. He was in charge atGoodison Park for four seasons before he was sacked in 2002.
After a brief stint as assistant manager to Alex Ferguson atManchester United, Smith was appointed Scotland manager in December 2004. He presided over a revival in their fortunes, taking the national team seventy places up theFIFA World Rankings. After aUEFA Euro 2008 qualifying, he resigned as Scotland manager in January 2007 to return to Rangers. He won eight trophies during his second spell as Rangers manager and guided the team to the2008 UEFA Cup final, before retiring from management in 2011. Smith is the second-most-successful manager in the history of Rangers, behindBill Struth.
Smith was born inLanark, but grew up in theCarmyle district in the East End ofGlasgow,[3] and was a boyhood fan of Rangers.[4][5] He was employed by theSouth of Scotland Electricity Board, and played youth football forDrumchapel Amateurs,[6] before launching his football career in the 1960s withJunior League teamAshfield.[7]
Smith was one of three Ashfield players signed byDundee United managerJerry Kerr in 1966, joining the club in November shortly after teammatesJim Cameron andGerry Hernon. A versatile player, Smith appeared for the reserve team in a number of positions, initially as aright-half. He made his first team debut in aScottish Football League match againstKilmarnock on 20 March 1967. He continued to play regularly for the reserves, but made only a handful of first-team appearances for Dundee United over the next four years until establishing himself in the latter part of the1970–71 season.[8] He also played for theDallas Tornado in theUnited Soccer Association in 1967, when their roster was supplemented with Dundee United players.[9]
Smith remained a regular first-team player for United until 1974, often incentral defence. His future coaching mentorJim McLean became manager in December 1971, and the following month his future managerial assistantArchie Knox became a teammate. In September 1973, Smith scored the only goal of the game as United defeatedDundee in theDundee derby; he celebrated by kissing his boot, a gesture which he was later embarrassed by. He played in the1974 Scottish Cup Final againstCeltic, Dundee United's first appearance in a major final, but finished with a runners-up medal following a 3–0 defeat.[8]
Smith played less regularly the following season, and in September 1975 was sold toDumbarton. He had played in 108 league games, scoring two goals, between 1966 and 1975.[10]
Smith was brought to Dumbarton for a fee of £8,000 by the management team ofAlex Wright and former Rangers playerDavie Wilson, who was one of Smith's heroes as a teenage supporter. Wilson worked alongside Smith's father at a localsteelworks in the village ofWestburn,Cambuslang, and was a senior teammate at Dundee United.[11][12] During his spell with Dumbarton, the club made a rare appearance at the semi-final stage of theScottish Cup in 1976, losing toHearts after a replay, with Smith scoring an earlyown goal.[13][14]
He played in 44 league games for Dumbarton[15] before McLean paid a fee of £4,000 to bring him back to Dundee United in February 1977. Shortly afterwards, however, a serious pelvic injury effectively curtailed Smith's playing career at the age of 29.[4]
Thereafter, he played mainly in the reserve team, helping to develop younger players. His final first-team appearance was in September 1980, by which time he was embarking on a coaching career. He appeared in 26 league matches during his second spell and, in total, made 183 senior appearances for Dundee United, scoring three goals. Additionally, he set a club record by making approximately 360 reserve-team appearances.[8][10]
He developed his coaching skills as assistant manager to Jim McLean, at a time when Dundee United wereScottish champions andEuropean Cup semi-finalists.[4] While working with McLean, a notoriously hard-bitten manager, Smith developed a reputation for being a strict disciplinarian. According toKevin Gallacher, who was an apprentice of the club at the time in the early 1980s, Smith could become ferociously angry and was known to deal out punches to enforce discipline.[16] He joined Dundee United's board of directors in 1986.[17]
In 1978, he was appointed coach of theScotland Under-18 team, and helped them to win theEuropean Youth Championship in 1982.[4] He became coach of theUnder 21 team, and wasAlex Ferguson's assistant manager during the1986 Mexico World Cup.[4] Ferguson commented on Smith by saying: "There are few people in the game with his experience, knowledge and technical ability."[16]
In late February 1986, Smith attended a meeting theGleneagles Hotel at which he was informed thatGraeme Souness was to be appointed player-manager of Rangers, and the latter wanted Smith as his assistant.[18] Smith accepted the offer and within a few weeks Rangers made an official approach toDundee United, who demanded £50,000 in compensation. The then Rangers chief executiveDavid Holmes duly paid that amount, and Smith was allowed to join Rangers on 16 April.[19] Smith was initially placed in temporary charge of the first team whilst Souness negotiated his own release from his playing contact with Italian sideSampdoria.[18][4] He took sole charge of twoScottish Premier Division matches, on 19 and 26 April, both away, toSt Mirren andAberdeen respectively.[18]
Smith helped Souness guide Rangers to Premier Division and League Cup glory in1986–87, another League Cup in1987–88, the Premier Division and League Cup again in1988–89, a second successive league title in1989–90 and another League Cup in1990–91.[20]
With Souness continuing to play regularly until 1988, Smith was the principal figure in the dugout for many matches. In addition, Smith took sole charge of the team in the1987 Scottish League Cup Final as Souness was suspended.[21] Souness was subject to an extensive touchline ban from February 1989, although he frequently circumvented this by naming himself as asubstitute.[22]
When Souness left forLiverpool in April 1991, Smith was appointed interim manager.[5] This was made permanent in May 1991, after the club clinched itsfourth title in five seasons.[23] Six more league titles in succession followed under Smith's tenure, including adomestic treble in1992–93.[4][24][5] He also won theScottish Cup and theLeague Cup three times each. Smith took Rangers to the brink of the final of theChampions League inseason 1992–93, going ten games without defeat in that campaign[25][26] and 44 matches unbeaten in all competitions.[4]
This success was achieved at a cost, as Smith spent over £50m on transfer fees in his six years in charge – more than any other club in Great Britain over the same period[27] – although in terms of net spend, particularly due to the sales ofTrevor Steven in 1991 for £5.5 million andDuncan Ferguson in 1994 for £4.3 million,[28] it was comparable for much of that time to the type of support offered across the city toTommy Burns atCeltic.[29]
Rangers equalled Celtic's record ofnine successive championships in 1996–97. In an effort to secure a record-breaking tenth success in 1997–98, Rangers spent £13m on eight new players.[27] In European competition, Rangers were beaten 4–1 byIFK Gothenburg in the1997–98 UEFA Champions League preliminary round and 4–2 byStrasbourg in the first round of the1997–98 UEFA Cup. There was growing pressure on Smith because of poor European results, and it was announced in October 1997 that he would leave Rangers at the end of the season. Rangers lost the league title to Celtic on the final day[30] and then lost the1998 Scottish Cup final toHearts.[31]
After success in his native Scotland, Smith's retirement lasted a month as he took the manager's job atPremier League clubEverton in June 1998.[32] Initially Smith had been linked with the manager's job atSheffield Wednesday,[33] but false promises made to him by the Everton chairman of massive transfer funds and unlimited ambition lured Smith to Goodison Park.[33] Smith spent money on players only to discover that it was money the club did not have.[33] WhenDuncan Ferguson was sold behind Smith's back, he was tempted to quit.[33] The remainder of his time at Everton revolved around selling the club's better players such asJohn Collins,Olivier Dacourt,Don Hutchison,Marco Materazzi,Nick Barmby,Francis Jeffers andMichael Ball to balance the books.[33]
Under Smith, Everton finished in the bottom half of the table for three consecutive seasons. The Everton board finally ran out of patience with Smith and he was sacked in March 2002 after an "abject"[33] 3–0 FA Cup sixth-round defeat toMiddlesbrough, with Everton in some danger of relegation from the Premier League.[34] He was replaced byDavid Moyes, who managed Everton to a safe finish in fifteenth place.[35]
In March 2004, Smith returned to football when he had a short spell as assistant manager toAlex Ferguson atManchester United at the end of the2003–04 season.[36] During this timeManchester United won the2004 FA Cup Final, beatingMillwall at theMillennium Stadium in Cardiff.[37]
Smith was appointed manager of theScottish national team on 2 December 2004, succeedingBerti Vogts.[17] Despite a revival of fortunes under Smith, including a home draw withItaly and an away win againstNorway, hopes of reaching the2006 World Cup were ended by a 1–0 home defeat againstBelarus.[38]
Scotland's world ranking improved by seventy places during his tenure. Scotland recorded a famous victory against World Cup runners-upFrance in aUEFA Euro 2008 qualification match at Hampden and temporarily led their group by three points.[39] A 2–0 defeat againstUkraine on 11 October 2006 was the first of the campaign.[40]
On 5 January 2007, press outlets reported thatRangers had spoken to Smith with a view to hiring him to manage Rangers again, withAlly McCoist as assistant manager.[41][5] The Scottish FA initially rebuffed Rangers' approach for Smith, but his return as Rangers manager was announced on 10 January 2007.[42] He succeededPaul Le Guen, who had left the club by mutual consent after Rangers had been knocked out of the2006–07 Scottish League Cup byFirst Division sideSt Johnstone and fallen 17 points behindCeltic in the2006–07 Scottish Premier League;[43] caretaker managerIan Durrant (who had previously played under him) was retained on the coaching staff.[44]
Smith's first match in his second spell atIbrox was a 5–0 win againstDundee United on 13 January, with two goals fromKris Boyd and one each fromBarry Ferguson,Chris Burke andCharlie Adam. Smith's first final since his return was secured with a 2–0 win overHearts in the2007–08 Scottish League Cup. Rangers playedDundee United in the2008 Scottish League Cup Final; the game was drawn 1–1 after normal time, and 2–2 after extra time. The winners were decided by penalty kicks. Rangers won 3–2, withKris Boyd scoring the winning penalty (as well as the goals forRangers in normal time and extra time).[4]
In the2007–08 UEFA Cup, Smith booked Rangers' first European final for 36 years, after an exit in theUEFA Champions League group stage on the final day after good results againstVFB Stuttgart,Olympique Lyonnais andFC Barcelona. In the quarter-final, after a 0–0 home draw withSporting, Rangers went on to win the away leg 2–0. In the semi-final they drew 0–0 in both legs againstFiorentina and after extra time, they won 4–2 on penalties, taking Rangers to theUEFA Cup Final in Manchester, which they lost 0–2 toZenit St. Petersburg.[45] Rangers also narrowly missed out on the league title, partly attributable to an end-of-season fixture backlog due to their cup runs. They added the2007–08 Scottish Cup with a win overQueen of the South in what was their 68th match of the campaign;[46] afterwards, Smith revealed that assistant McCoist had been controlling the team in the Scottish Cup run.[47]
In the2008–09 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round, Rangers drew 0–0 with Lithuanian sideFBK Kaunas at Ibrox on 30 July 2008 and lost the return leg 2–1. The loss against Kaunas meant Rangers made an early exit from European competition. Rangers went on to claim theSPL title – the club's 52nd championship – on 24 May 2009. Smith followed this up with theScottish Cup a week later to end the season with a League and Cup double.[48]
In December 2009, it was revealed that Smith was to continue as Rangers manager without a contract when it expired the following month.[49] In March 2010, he guided Rangers to win theLeague Cup after they had been reduced to nine men in the final.[50] On 25 April 2010, Rangers clinched their 53rd league title with a 1–0 win away toHibernian.[51]
On 25 May 2010, Smith signed a new one-year deal to continue as Rangers manager throughout the2010–11 campaign. He stated that it would be his last as Rangers manager,[52][53] with McCoist to take control thereafter.[54] In this final season as manager, Smith led Rangers to another domestic double, winning theLeague Cup[55] and their 54th league championship. The league title was secured on the final day ofthe season, with a 5–1 win againstKilmarnock atRugby Park.[56][57]
Rangers enteredadministration in February 2012. An attempt to take the club out of administration by means of a creditors voluntary arrangement was rejected byHM Revenue & Customs, the largest creditor,putting the club into liquidation in June 2012.[58] The administrator,Duff & Phelps, sold the assets of Rangers to a consortium led byCharles Green.[58] Smith said that he was leading a consortium offering a deal to buy the assets from Green,[58] but this offer was withdrawn days later.[59] On 11 November 2012, Smith returned to Ibrox taking on a role with thenew Rangers company as a non-executive director.[60][61] Smith was appointed non-executive chairman in May 2013,[62] but he resigned from the board in August.[12][63]
Smith was linked with a return to management asScotland manager in February 2018, but he withdrew his name from consideration after discussions with theScottish FA.[64]
Smith was married to Ethel, with whom he had two sons, Neil and Steven.[65]
Smith was a close friend of former Celtic player and managerTommy Burns. He was a pallbearer at Burns's funeral in 2008.[66]
Politically, Smith described himself as asocialist and said he was brought up with "socialist principles".[67]
During the2014 Scottish independence referendum Smith was a supporter of theBetter Together campaign againstScottish independence.[68]
He underwent an unspecified medical operation in March 2021 that required him to stay in hospital.[69]
Smith died from cancer on the morning of 26 October 2021, aged 73.[70] A private family funeral was held on 3 November, followed by a public memorial service atGlasgow Cathedral on 19 November.[71]
On 25 May 2024, a statue of Smith was unveiled in front of Ibrox's Copland Road Stand.[72]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Rangers[73] |  | 16 April 1991 | 31 May 1998 | 380 | 249 | 68 | 63 | 065.53 |
| Everton[74] |  | 1 July 1998 | 13 March 2002 | 168 | 53 | 50 | 65 | 031.55 |
| Scotland[75] | | 2 December 2004 | 10 January 2007 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 043.75 |
| Scotland B[76] | | 7 December 2004 | 14 November 2006 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 020.00 |
| Rangers[73] | | 10 January 2007 | 15 May 2011 | 246 | 155 | 53 | 38 | 063.01 |
| Total | 815 | 465 | 177 | 173 | 057.06 | |||
Dundee United[8]
Scotland U18
Rangers[73]
Scotland
Honorary degree
Orders
At this time David Murray was reaching a decade in charge and in this period Rangers had spent £90 million on players and £52 million on stadium development.
... Rangers dominated the PFA Scotland awards. Walter Smith was named manager of the year, with defender Danny Wilson being voted top young player...
