A versatile footballer who played as both a half-back and a forward, William “Tich” Smith competed in the Football League Second Division during the 1897-98 season for Loughborough Athletic and Football Club. During this time, he made 27 appearances and scored 1 goal. His debut with the club was on September 4, 1897, in a 2-1 win against Walsall FC. He was selected for 27 of the 30 league games played by the team that season. Smith’s footballing journey began with Long Eaton Rangers, where he had two significant spells (1886-1889 and 1894-1896). He also played for Notts County across two periods (1889-1890 and 1896-1897), accumulating 23 appearances and 11 goals. Between his Notts County stints, he was a key player for Nottingham Forest from 1890 to 1894, making 36 appearances and scoring 6 goals. After his season with Loughborough, Smith joined Lincoln City for the 1898-99 season, making 33 appearances in the Football League Second Division. His professional career concluded with Burton Swifts in 1899-1900, though he didn’t feature in their first team. Smith’s talent extended beyond club football; he was named as a reserve for England’s match against Scotland in 1891 and even scored four goals in an unofficial international against a touring “Canada” team that same year. Despite these achievements, he never earned a full England cap.
William “Tich” Smith sadly passed away prematurely in Nottingham at the age of 38.
We regret to announce the death of William (“Tich”) Smith, which occurred at his home, the Barley Mow, Weekday-cross, Nottingham, yesterday, at the age of 38 years, after an illness which extended over six months. Smith had been in poor health for some years. Some weeks ago he left sick bed to attend his father’s funeral at Eaton and had not been much out of doors since. He caught a succession of colds, which brought on consumption, from which he could not rally, gradually sinking about four o’clock yesterday morning. Tich was widely known throughout the Midlands for the prominent part he took in football and enjoyed great popularity. In company with “Jack” Start. T. C. Vessey, G. H. Smith, Wiseman, Harry Bestwick, and others, he became prominent with Long Eaton Rangers, following in the footsteps of Jammer and others.
He was a fine forward and figured in the team which won the Birmingham Cup. Afterwards he became associated with Derby County, Notts Rangers, Notts, and Nottingham Forest. A versatile player, he filled most of the positions, and while having a preference for the half-back division, also greatly distinguished himself as a forward, having few superiors on the right wing. He was reserve for the North v. South trial match in 1891 and played for the Alliance against the League in Sheffield in April of that year, when was regarded one of the best the field.
In the season 1891-2 he played for “England against the Canadians, on which was again the shining light, obtaining four of the six goals scored by his side. In the last year of Long Eaton Rangers career kindly agreed to try and restore the renown the old club, but he was especially unlucky in the Association Cup match in the early period of the final season, when Heanor were the opponents on Tag Hill, and the discomfiture on that occasion settled practically the career of the Long Eaton club. Smith always manifested the greatest interest in football. He tried to reorganise a team with great prospects, but after a time the effort fell through. He was landlord of the New Inn, Sawley-road. Long Eaton, for several years, leaving for the Barley Mow, Nottingham, where he died.
Nottingham Evening Post – Saturday 28 September 1907