Gary Smith (footballer, born 1971)

Gary Smith (born 25 March 1971) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a defender.

Gary Smith

Personal information
Date of birth	(1971-03-25) 25 March 1971 (age 53)
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1990–1991	Falkirk	70	(0)
1991–1996	Aberdeen	143	(1)
1996–1997	Rennes	14	(0)
1997–2000	Aberdeen	67	(1)
2000–2006	Hibernian	159	(1)
2006–2007	Cowdenbeath	10	(0)
2006–2007	→ Dundee (loan)	21	(1)
Total		484	(4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Club career

Smith was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He began his professional career at Falkirk, making his debut in 1989. He was snapped up by Aberdeen in 1991 and played in three cup finals for the Dons. He scored an own goal in the 1992 Scottish League Cup Final, which ultimately led to Rangers winning the trophy.^[1]

In 1996, he left for French club Rennes (Heart of Midlothian winger Allan Johnston making the same move), before returning to Aberdeen in 1997. He signed for Hibernian in 2000 and despite falling out of favour with manager Franck Sauzée, re-established himself as a regular in the team under Bobby Williamson. After a solid spell at Hibs, Smith was allowed to leave Easter Road for Cowdenbeath in 2006. He was then loaned to Dundee from Cowdenbeath after he was passed over for the managerial position.^[2]

International career

Smith was called up to the senior Scotland squad by Andy Roxburgh in 1993 but was ultimately never capped at that level.^[3]

After Football

After retirement Smith retrained as a firefighter. Moving through the ranks Smith now holds the rank of Watch Commander in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club[4][5][6]	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Falkirk	1988-89	Scottish First Division	3	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	3	0
	1989-90		36	0	1	0	0	0	-	-	37	0
	1990-91		31	0	3	0	1	0	-	-	36	0
	Total		70	0	4	0	1	0	-	-	75	0
Aberdeen	1991–92	Scottish Premier Division	16	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	16	1
	1992–93		40	0	5	0	5	0	0	0	50	0
	1993–94		21	0	5	0	3	0	3	0	32	0
	1994–95		33	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	37	0
	1995–96		33	0	4	0	4	0	0	0	41	0
	Total		143	1	16	0	14	0	3	0	176	1
Rennes	1996-97	Ligue 1	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	0
	Total		14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	0
Aberdeen	1997-98	Scottish Premier Division	31	1	1	0	2	0	0	0	34	1
	1998-99	SPL	30	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	33	0
	1999-00		6	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	7	0
	Total		67	1	2	0	5	0	0	0	74	1
Hibernian	2000-01	SPL	37	0	5	0	2	0	0	0	44	0
	2001-02		30	0	3	1	2	0	1	0	36	1
	2002-03		32	0	3	0	2	0	0	0	37	0
	2003-04		20	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	23	0
	2004-05		20	1	4	0	1	0	1	0	26	1
	2005-06		20	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	24	0
	Total		159	1	18	1	10	0	3	0	190	2
Cowdenbeath	2006-07	Scottish Second Division	10	0	0	0	1	0	-	-	11	0
	Total		10	0	0	0	1	0	-	-	11	0
Dundee (loan)	2006-07	Scottish First Division	21	1	1	0	0	0	-	-	22	1
Career total			484	4	41	1	31	0	6	0	562	5

Honours

Falkirk

• Scottish First Division: 1990–91

Aberdeen

• Scottish League Cup: 1995;^[7] runners-up 1992^[1]

• Scottish Cup: runners-up 1993^[8]

Hibernian

• Scottish Cup: runners-up 2001^[9]
• Scottish League Cup: runners-up 2004^[10]

References

1. McKinney, David (26 October 1992). "Football: Smith's slip gives Rangers the prize". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
2. Dundee get veteran defender Smith, BBC Sport.
3. "Roxburgh introduces new generation in the wake of Lisbon fiasco". heraldscotland.com. 11 May 1993. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
4. "bettermeddle..." bettermeddle.org.uk. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
5. "Aberdeen Football Club Heritage Trust - Player Profile". afcheritage.org. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
6. "Gary Smith | Player Statistics | Dundee (Dee Archive)". deearchive.co.uk. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
7. McKinney, David (27 November 1995). "Dodds and Shearer end Aberdeen's wait". The Independent. London. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
8. McKinney, David (31 May 1993). "Scottish up Final: Rangers continue to reign supreme". The Independent. London. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
9. Celtic lift cup to complete Treble BBC Sport, 26 May 2001
10. Livingston lift CIS Cup, BBC Sport, 14 March 2004

External links

• Gary Smith at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database
• Gary Smith at Soccerbase