GO Smith

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The captain of the English national team - GO Smith - was described by contemporary witnesses as "the first great center forward" despite his slight stature, chronic asthma and his aversion to the header game.

Gilbert Oswald Smith (known as: G. O. Smith ) (born November 25, 1872 in Croydon , Surrey , † December 6, 1943 in Lymington , Hampshire ) was an English amateur footballer of the 19th century and was often considered the first great center forward of the called modern football.

Smith was educated at Charterhouse School , one of the cradles of English association football, where he learned a number of technical skills that made him famous while he was still in school. He later studied at Oxford University and took up the profession of school teacher.

Club career

Smith played for Oxford University from the start and won three of four prestigious duels against Cambridge University , leading the team in his senior year as team captain. After graduating, he joined Corinthian FC , which at that time was not only known as the best British amateur football club and was on par with the best professional clubs, but was also instrumental in establishing the sporting principles and fair play . Smith scored 113 goals in 131 games and achieved one of the best hit rates in football history to date with a ratio of 104 minutes per goal.

During his club career, Smith led Corinthians FC to the first Sheriff of London Charity Shield event. The competition was created to allow the best British professional and amateur clubs to compete against each other. The match against Sheffield United , however, proved to be extremely controversial, as the professional club from Sheffield refused due to a number of controversial refereeing decisions after 90 minutes in an extension to go. Smith later scored the winning goal in a 2-1 win in another Charity Shield game at the Crystal Palace National Sports Center against Aston Villa in November 1900.

International career

Smith led the English national team as captain of at least 13 international matches between 1896 and 1901, although this number may have increased to 14, but this cannot be clearly clarified due to the inaccuracy of the records from the early days of English football. He won at least eight games (possibly even nine) and played two games with a draw. He was the only one of six players, and the only Englishman to score an international hat-trick in February 1899 , when he scored three goals in five minutes and added another fourth to the 13-2 home win over Ireland . In 1894 he had also completed a game against the Welsh selection with the entire Corinthians eleven .

“They were fine guys,” wrote the famous Welsh player Billy Meredith of the British amateurs led by Smith, “with six feet in their socks, filling every inch with a great weight. And they weren't afraid to use their weight, as some of us had to learn. Always according to true sportsmanship, they could - of course - take hard blows as well as hand out them. Any of them could run like a deer and before the game ended many of us were exhausted. Most of them were top Corinthian players and they practiced the Corinthian style of play. It was a great sight to see this line of scrimmage running down the field, although our defenders probably don't think so. "

GO Smith's official national team record shows 19 appearances for England, scoring 11 goals. This came at a time when only three internationals per year (against Scotland , Wales and Ireland) were scheduled. Some football historians, including the author of the article on Smith in the Dictionary of National Biography , attribute 21 international matches to Smith, although the game against Germany in 1901 was unofficial. This game was also the last appearance of Smith in an English shirt.

Style of play

G. O. Smith, who only appeared in brown street shoes for football matches, was famous throughout his playing career for exceptional ball handling and good timing . His game was characterized by a consistently close ball control.

Contrary to the majority of today's center forwards, Smith was also an above-average passing player. One ability that clearly set him apart from other players of his time was his talent for drawing opposing defenders to himself and then serving a free-standing player with an assist with an accurate pass. Steve Bloomer , who played as a professional player in numerous international matches at Smith's side, cited this as the main reason why he preferred playing with Smith over any other center forward.

His style of play was accommodated by the offside rule from 1866, which was valid at the time, according to which a player was offside when he was both placed in front of the ball and had fewer than three opponents in front of him. This made steep passes into the attack center very difficult and primarily favored players with a talent for dribbling or the ability to pass the ball across or back to a teammate in distress.

Physically, Smith seemed disadvantaged despite being six feet tall, which was above average for his time. He was of light stature, suffered from asthma and did not have the muscular strength that had previously distinguished the English national team with players like William Cobbold - and that in a time when body checks and a sometimes very rude style of play were still considered fair play were understood. He stayed away from headers and even expressed the wish that this style of play should be removed from football. He compensated for the tactical disadvantage that arose from all this with intelligent play with and without the ball, although opponents always emphasized that it was "hard, like a whip" and very difficult to separate from the ball.

reputation

At the time of his resignation Smith was probably the most popular English football player and his reputation was on its distinctive initials also about other generations, to a time when the Cricket poker players WG Grace just another athlete in a similar fashion was popular. Despite the later appearance of equally gifted players in the center-forward position - above all Vivian Woodward , the direct successor of Smith - Smith's skills were praised until the 1940s. The international statistics association IFFHS , based in Germany , describes him as the "most brilliant, truly perfect footballer in the world at the turn of the century".

"G. O. ”was, according to contemporary witnesses, also popular with professional footballers, although they usually viewed the leading amateur players with suspicion. The reason, according to Sir Frederick Wall , longtime Secretary of the Football Association , was that Smith was a player without arrogance. Steve Bloomer, Wall continued, had great admiration for his strike partner in the national team and pointed out that Smith, unlike the majority of amateurs at the time, was always polite to his professional and sometimes socially disadvantaged teammates: "He was the most decent type of amateur, someone who shook hands with us professional players in a way that meant that he was just glad to be with us."

In his youth, GO Smith was considered a good cricketer. In the varsity match of 1896 he scored for Oxford University against Cambridge University game- winning 132 points in the last round. He was a right-handed batsman, also a reasonably good thrower and usually played in the cover point position in the field. In the field he moved - according to his obituary in the famous Wisden Cricketers' Almanack - "with graceful speed in everything he did".

resignation

Smith retired from active sport shortly after his last international match and became a teacher at Ludgrove School , a preparatory school for college, especially for the well-known Eton College . Later he was promoted to director of the school. He also taught at Lancing College and coached his school's soccer teams for several years. After retiring from the profession, he died at the age of 71 in Lymington, Hampshire.

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personal data
SURNAME Smith, GO
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Smith, Gilbert Oswald
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH November 25, 1872
PLACE OF BIRTH Croydon , Surrey
DATE OF DEATH December 6, 1943
Place of death Lymington , Hampshire