| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1939-12-25)25 December 1939 (age 85) | ||
| Place of birth | Cowie, Scotland | ||
| Position | 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 | |||
Alex SmithMBE (born 25 December 1939) is a Scottish formerfootball player andmanager. His major achievements over close to five decades as a manager include winning theScottish Cup in 1987 withSt Mirren and 1990 withAberdeen, where he also won theScottish League Cup in 1989. He also won league titles with Stirling Albion and Clyde.
He managed the Scotland under-18, under-21 and under-23 teams.
He had a role in the development of many prominent players,[1] and the 2005 book onScottish football,The Final Whistle? was described as "the nearest thing the Scottish game has to a father figure".
Smith was born inCowie, a mining village close toStirling, and played in the same youth team asBilly Bremner - Gowanhill United. He was best man at Bremner's wedding in 1961. His playing career was affected by serious injuries, but he played forKilmarnock,Stenhousemuir,East Stirlingshire,Stirling Albion andAlbion Rovers over a ten-year period.
He took on the role of player coach atStenhousemuir in 1968, becoming the club's first-ever manager in November 1969.[2] In 1974, he became manager ofStirling Albion and would manage the club for 12 years, winning the Second Division championship in1977.[1]
During this time he developed key young players such as John Colqhoun, Bryan Grant, John Phillibin and Willie Irvine who all went on to play for Scottish Premiership clubs.
At this time, he also managed to put the club into a strong and stable financial position.
Stirling Albion remained in the second tier for four seasons, and were relegated in1981 after failing to score a league goal for three months;[3] Smith nonetheless remained at the club until 1986 when he moved toSt Mirren, with whom he won theScottish Cup in1987, overcoming that season'sUEFA Cup finalistsDundee United with a young, all-Scottish team in a surprise result which endured as one of thePaisley club's most treasured achievements.[4][5]
Smith and co-managerJocky Scott succeededIan Porterfield atAberdeen in 1988. For the next three seasons theDons were the main rivals toRangers, finishing runners-up in each of those seasons.[6] New players were brought in, several from Dutch football includingTheo Snelders andHans Gillhaus, along with youth prospects such asEoin Jess andStephen Wright.[5] In1989–90 Aberdeen won thedouble of theLeague Cup (beating Rangers after losing to them the previous year) and Scottish Cup (in a penalty shootout againstCeltic),[5] and in1990–91 went into their final game atIbrox needing only a draw to win theScottish Premier Division championship on goals scored; a 2–0 defeat courtesy of aMark 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 atDunfermline Athletic, and a further slump in form resulted in Smith's dismissal in February 1992.[6][5][7]
Smith would later manageClyde,Dundee United andRoss County. He later worked as technical director atFalkirk. In June 2009 he was appointed assistant to the then head coachEddie May.[8] In March 2013 he was appointed interim manager at the club following the departure ofSteven Pressley.[9] He was again placed in interim charge in September 2017, afterPeter 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 withScotland at a number of levels, managing theU18 andU21 sides. He also took charge of theScotland B squad in January 2007, alongsideBobby 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 appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the2005 Birthday Honours for services to sport in Scotland.[13]
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| Stenhousemuir[14] | 1 August 1968 | 1 September 1974 | 218 | 68 | 42 | 108 | 031.19 |
| Stirling[15] | 1 September 1974 | 16 December 1986 | 552 | 203 | 155 | 194 | 036.78 |
| St Mirren[16] | 17 December 1986 | 31 May 1988 | 72 | 20 | 20 | 32 | 027.78 |
| Aberdeen[6] | 1 August 1988 | 10 February 1992 | 178 | 91 | 39 | 48 | 051.12 |
| Clyde[17] | 1 August 1992 | September 1996 | 186 | 65 | 49 | 72 | 034.95 |
| Scotland U21[18] | October 1998 | 14 March 2002 | 23 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 034.78 |
| Dundee United | 8 August 2000 | 7 October 2002 | 99 | 31 | 45 | 23 | 031.31 |
| Ross County | 27 November 2002 | 11 June 2005 | 112 | 39 | 45 | 28 | 034.82 |
| Falkirk (interim) | 8 March 2013 | 3 April 2013 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 060.00 |
| Falkirk (interim) | 24 September 2017 | 7 October 2017 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Total | 1,447 | 530 | 402 | 515 | 036.63 | ||
Stirling Albion
Stenhousemuir
Stirling Albion
St Mirren
Aberdeen(co-manager withJocky Scott)
Clyde
Springfield United
Individual
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
