Tommy Smith was born in Liverpool in 1945 and had a reputation as a real ‘hard man’ a defender who determined, powerful and who’s raw aggression in the tackle quickly earned him a reputation, but he could also play as well, making over 600 appearances for the club he supported as a boy. He was a key player during the 1960’s and 70’s as Liverpool rose from second division mediocrity to dominate the English game.
Smith joined Liverpool as an apprentice in 1960 at the age of fifteen and he was soon playing in the reserve team, his determination in the reserves saw him make his debut for the first team during the 1962-63 season in a 5-1 victory over Birmingham, but it wasn’t until 1965 that Smith began to play regularly, and during this season that he was instrumental in Liverpool’s FA Cup winning team that beat Leeds United.
By the 1965-66 season Smith had cemented his place in the first team as Liverpool went onto win the league title, which would be the first of his four titles with the Reds. Despite his reputation as a hard man, Smith was only ever sent off once during a match and that was for swearing at the referee and not for one of his infamous tackles.
After a period of re-building under manager Bill Shankly in 1970 which saw numerous new players arrive at Anfield, Smith was given the Liverpool captaincy and despite losing the FA Cup final to Arsenal in 1971, success wasn’t far away, and in the 1972-73 season he became the first Liverpool captain to lift a European trophy as they won the UEFA Cup as well as regaining the League title.
Six months later however, following a disagreement with manager Bill Shankly, Smith was stripped of the Liverpool captaincy and dropped from the team, to make matters worse, arch rival Emlyn Hughes was installed as the new club captain. After the differences were settled, and despite rumours that he wanted a transfer away from the club, Smith regained his place in the team, now playing at full back, rather than his favoured central defensive position.
He went onto to win the 1974 FA Cup final against Newcastle, and two more League titles in 1976 and 1977, which was probably Liverpool’s most memorable season. After winning the League title, Liverpool looked set to achieve an unprecedented ‘treble’ but narrowly missed out after losing the FA Cup final 2-1 to Manchester United.
Just days after losing the FA Cup final, came a unforgettable night in Rome as Liverpool faced German side Borussia Monchengladbach in the European cup final, an injury to Phil Thompson meant that Smith started the game and he scored the second goal in the 3-1 victory, that saw Liverpool win their first European cup.
One final season at Anfield saw Tommy Smith bring down the curtain on his Liverpool career in 1978, after 638 appearances and 48 goals for the club, nick-named the Anfield-Iron, after his hard man reputation, he will never be forgotten.
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