Ross Smith (Australian footballer, born 1942)

For other people named Ross Smith, see Ross Smith (disambiguation).

Ross Gibson Smith (born 12 September 1942) is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Ross Smith
Personal information
Full name	Ross Gibson Smith
Date of birth	(1942-09-12) 12 September 1942 (age 82)
Original team(s)	Hampton Scouts
Debut	Round 2, 1961, St Kilda vs. Essendon, at Windy Hill
Height	173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	75 kg (165 lb)
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1961–1972	St Kilda	222 (222)
1973–1974	Subiaco	039 0(22)
1975	St Kilda	012 00(8)
Total		273 (252)
Coaching career
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
1973–1974	Subiaco
1977	St Kilda	22 (3–17–2)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1975.
Career highlights
St Kilda Football Club premiership player 1966 Brownlow Medallist 1967 Trevor Barker Award 1967, 1971 St Kilda Football Club captain 1970–1972 Victoria state captain 1972 Subiaco Football Club premiership coach 1973 Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee 2010
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Smith played with St Kilda as a courageous rover. He won the Brownlow Medal in 1967^[1] and captained Victoria at the 1972 Perth Carnival. He once broke his arm smothering a ball in the late sixties and recovered to captain the Saints in the early seventies.

He coached Subiaco to a premiership in 1973. He also coached his former club St Kilda for a single season (1977), leading them only three wins and to their first wooden spoon in 22 years.

He also went on to lecture in physical education at Rusden SCV in Melbourne during the 1980s.

In 1987 he was appointed as a director for the Australian Institute of Sport for 3 years, after which he was the director of Sports Science Sports Medicine research at the AIS for 10 years.^[2]

He was inducted to the Saints inaugural Hall of Fame in 2003, and then the AFL Hall of Fame in 2010.^[3] In addition he was chosen as first rover in St Kilda's Team of the Century.^[4]