Gilbert Oswald Smith familiarly known as G. O. Smith or simply as G. O. or Jo, was a nineteenth century amateur footballer often referred to as "the first great centre forward".

Smith was educated, from 1886 to 1892, at Charterhouse School

Charterhouse School

Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...

, one of the principal nurseries of the Association Football game, and learned many of the skills that subsequently brought him fame while boarding at the school. He went on to study at Keble College, Oxford

Keble College, Oxford

Keble College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to the south by Museum Road, and to the west by Blackhall...

 and was by profession a school teacher. He was unmarried.

Club career

Smith played football for Oxford University

Oxford University A.F.C.

Oxford University Association Football Club is an English football club representing the University of Oxford.-History:Formed in 1872, the club was a giant of the 1870s, winning the FA Cup 2-0 against Royal Engineers in 1874 and finishing the competition as runners up in 1873, 1877 and 1880, the...

, representing the team from his freshman year, winning three out of four Varsity match

Varsity match

A varsity match is a sporting fixture between two university rivals; in its original and most common form, it is used to describe meetings between Oxford University and Cambridge University.-Popular British and Irish Varsity matches:*University of Oxford v...

es played against Cambridge, and captaining Oxford in his final year. On going down from university, he joined the Corinthians, then the best-known amateur football club in Britain

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

 and one not only renowned for its promotion of the ideals of sportsmanship and fair play, but also fully capable of meeting the best professional teams of the day on equal terms. Smith's scoring record for the club - 132 goals in 137 matches - remains one of the best strike rates in the history of the game, equating to one goal for every 93 minutes played. His record for The Casuals F.C. was even more impressive scoring 42 goals in 29 appearances.

In the course of his club career, Smith captained Corinthian in the first Sheriff of London Charity Shield

Sheriff of London Charity Shield

The Sheriff of London Charity Shield was an English football competition played once a year between an amateur and a professional side in England.The first game was played on March 19, 1898, after being devised by Sir Thomas Dewar...

 fixture, a competition created to match the best professional and amateur teams in Britain. The match, played in 1898 against Sheffield United

Sheffield United F.C.

Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...

, proved controversial and with the score standing at 1-1 after 90 minutes, the professional side declined to play extra time because they had disagreed with several of the referee's decisions. Smith also scored the winning goal in Corinthian's memorable 2-1 Charity Shield win against the professionals of Aston Villa

Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

 played at Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace National Sports Centre

The National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace in south London, England is a large sports centre and athletics stadium. It was opened in 1964 in Crystal Palace Park, close to the site of the former Crystal Palace, in the former parkland and also usurping part of the former grand prix circuit.It was...

 in November 1900.

International career

Smith captained the England

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 team on at least 13, and possibly as many as 16, occasions (early records are inexact) between 1896 and 1901, winning at least eight games, possibly as many as ten, and drawing two. His most productive game in an England shirt came in February 1899, when he netted three times in only five minutes and four times in all during the 13-2 demolition of Ireland

Northern Ireland national football team

The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...

.

"Fine fellows they were," the great Welsh player Billy Meredith

Billy Meredith

William Henry "Billy" Meredith was a Welsh footballer. He was considered one of the early superstars of football due to his performances, notably for Manchester City and Manchester United. He won each domestic trophy in the English football league and also gained 48 caps for Wales, for whom he...

 wrote of the Smith-led, all-amateur England forward line of 1895,

"some six feet three in their socks and carrying plenty of weight with their inches. And they were not afraid to use their weight either, as some of us discovered. All in true sporting fashion, of course, for they were just as ready to take as to give hard knocks. Every man of them could run like a deer and before the game was over most of us were crying bellows to mend. Most of them were Corinthian stars and they played the Corinthian game. 'Twas a grand sight to see their forward line sweeping down the field, though probably our backs didn't think so."

G.O. Smith's official record - at a time when only three internationals (against Scotland

Scotland national football team

The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

, Wales

Wales national football team

The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...

 and Ireland) were played each year - was 20 caps

Progression of England association football caps record

This is a progressive list of association footballers who have held or co-held the record for international caps for the England national football team, beginning with Charles Chenery and Ernest Greenhalgh, the only England players to appear in both of the first two international games...

 and 11 international goals in the period 1894 to 1901. Some authorities, including the author of the article on Smith published in the Dictionary of National Biography

Dictionary of National Biography

The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...

, credit him with 21 caps, one of which was won in the unofficial 12-0 victory over Germany

Germany national football team

The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....

 in 1901. That game was Smith's last appearance in an England shirt.

Playing style

G.O. Smith was renowned throughout his playing career for his exceptional balance and timing, and was further noted for his close control of the ball.

Unlike the majority of centre-forwards of the day, Smith also excelled at passing. "He was," his obituary in The Times contended, "a maker rather than a scorer of goals," and the skill that, more than any other, set him apart from his contemporaries was his ability to draw defenders around him and then slide an accurate pass to an unmarked team-mate well positioned to score. Steve Bloomer

Steve Bloomer

Steve Bloomer was an English footballer and manager who played for Derby County, Middlesbrough and England during the 1890s and 1900s. Bloomer remains a legend at Derby County and the club anthem, Steve Bloomer's Watchin', is played before every home game...

, Smith's professional colleague in several international matches, remarked that it was for this reason that he would rather play alongside Smith than any other centre-forward. The Dictionary of National Biography contends that he "transformed the role of the centre-forward from that of an individual striker into a unifier of the forward line, indeed the whole team."

Physically, Smith seemed unprepossessing. Though standing nearly 5 feet 11 inches, a good height for the day, he was of slight build, suffered from asthma and lacked the obvious brawn that had characterised predecessors in the England team such as W.N. "Nuts" Cobbold

William Cobbold

William Nevill Cobbold , familiarly known as "Nuts" Cobbold, was one of the leading footballers of the Victorian era and on several occasions a member of the England national football team...

 in a period in which body-checking and other rough tactics were considered fair play. He was also noted for his reluctance to head the ball, stating that he would be happy to see the practice banned. "G.O." atoned for these deficiencies by positioning himself intelligently and by shooting accurately, and - so his obituary observed - "invariably low", though opponents testified that he was also "hard as a whipcord" and by no means easy to shake off the ball.

Reputation

By the time of his retirement, Smith was perhaps the most admired figure in the English game, familiarly known to several generations of schoolboys simply by his initials at a time when only one other sportsman - the cricketer W.G. Grace - was so recognised. Despite the emergence of later, equally capable centre forwards in a more recognisably modern mould - most notably Vivian Woodward

Vivian Woodward

Vivian John Woodward was an English amateur football player who enjoyed the peak of his career in the late 1900s and early 1910s.-Club career:...

, Smith's successor in the England team - his abilities were recalled and praised well into the 1940s. The International Federation of Football History & Statistics, a scholarly group based in Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...

, describes him as "the most brilliant, indeed perfect, footballer in the world around the turn of the century".

"G.O." was, according to contemporaries, unusually popular among professional footballers who were generally wary of the leading amateurs, not least because - wrote Sir Frederick Wall, the long-serving Secretary of the Football Association

The Football Association

The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...

 - he was "a man without petty pride". Steve Bloomer, Wall recalled, "had an intense admiration" for his England striking partner, and Bloomer himself remarked that, unlike the majority of amateurs of the day, Smith was invariably courteous to his professional team-mates (and social inferiors): "He was the finest type of amateur, one who would always shake hands with us professionals in a manner which said plainly he was pleased to meet them."

In his youth, G.O. Smith was also a noted cricketer, representing Oxford University and scoring a match-winning 132 runs in the fourth innings of the 1896 Varsity Match to win the game against Cambridge. He batted right-handed. showing excellent timing with his drives and cutting beautifully, bowled reasonably well, and fielded at cover point. In the field he moved - his obituary in Wisden

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...

 noted - "gracefully with quickness in all he did."

Retirement

Smith retired from football shortly after his final international appearance and became joint headmaster at Ludgrove School

Ludgrove School

Ludgrove School is an independent preparatory boarding school for about 200 boys, aged from seven or eight years to thirteen. It is situated in the civil parish of Wokingham Without, adjoining the town of Wokingham in the English county of Berkshire.-History:...

, a preparatory school

Preparatory school (UK)

In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...

 in Barnet

Barnet

High Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet, North London, England. It is a suburban development built around a twelfth-century settlement and is located north north-west of Charing Cross. Its name is often abbreviated to Barnet, which is also the name of the London...

 recognised as one of the principal feeder institutions for Eton College

Eton College

Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

. His fellow headmaster, Arthur Dunn

Arthur Dunn

Arthur Tempest Blakiston Dunn was a noted amateur footballer who founded the English boarding school Ludgrove in 1892.-Football career:...

 – who had founded Ludgrove in 1892 – was another noted amateur footballer and had also played as centre-forward for England. Dunn died, aged only 41, a few months after Smith joined the school, and thereafter G.O. shared his duties with his fellow Corinthian, England captain, and great friend, William Oakley

William Oakley

William John Oakley was a Victorian era footballer who played as a full back for the renowned amateur clubs the Corinthians and Casuals, and captained the England team once, in a match against Ireland in 1901....

. He also taught, from 1918 at Sunningdale Preparatory School

Sunningdale School

Sunningdale School is a family-run boys' preparatory independent school of around 100 pupils, situated in Sunningdale in Berkshire, close to London, England.-Introduction:...

 and died, aged 71, in retirement at his home in Hampshire.
Gilbert Oswald Smith (born 25 November 1872 in Croydon

Croydon

Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...

, Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

, died 6 December 1943 in Lymington

Lymington

Lymington is a port on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It is to the east of the South East Dorset conurbation, and faces Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight which is connected to it by a car ferry, operated by Wightlink. The town...

, Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

), familiarly known as G. O. Smith or simply as G. O. or Jo, was a nineteenth century amateur footballer often referred to as "the first great centre forward".

Smith was educated, from 1886 to 1892, at Charterhouse School

Charterhouse School

Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...

, one of the principal nurseries of the Association Football game, and learned many of the skills that subsequently brought him fame while boarding at the school. He went on to study at Keble College, Oxford

Keble College, Oxford

Keble College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to the south by Museum Road, and to the west by Blackhall...

 and was by profession a school teacher. He was unmarried.

Club career

Smith played football for Oxford University

Oxford University A.F.C.

Oxford University Association Football Club is an English football club representing the University of Oxford.-History:Formed in 1872, the club was a giant of the 1870s, winning the FA Cup 2-0 against Royal Engineers in 1874 and finishing the competition as runners up in 1873, 1877 and 1880, the...

, representing the team from his freshman year, winning three out of four Varsity match

Varsity match

A varsity match is a sporting fixture between two university rivals; in its original and most common form, it is used to describe meetings between Oxford University and Cambridge University.-Popular British and Irish Varsity matches:*University of Oxford v...

es played against Cambridge, and captaining Oxford in his final year. On going down from university, he joined the Corinthians, then the best-known amateur football club in Britain

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

 and one not only renowned for its promotion of the ideals of sportsmanship and fair play, but also fully capable of meeting the best professional teams of the day on equal terms. Smith's scoring record for the club - 132 goals in 137 matches - remains one of the best strike rates in the history of the game, equating to one goal for every 93 minutes played. His record for The Casuals F.C. was even more impressive scoring 42 goals in 29 appearances.

In the course of his club career, Smith captained Corinthian in the first Sheriff of London Charity Shield

Sheriff of London Charity Shield

The Sheriff of London Charity Shield was an English football competition played once a year between an amateur and a professional side in England.The first game was played on March 19, 1898, after being devised by Sir Thomas Dewar...

 fixture, a competition created to match the best professional and amateur teams in Britain. The match, played in 1898 against Sheffield United

Sheffield United F.C.

Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...

, proved controversial and with the score standing at 1-1 after 90 minutes, the professional side declined to play extra time because they had disagreed with several of the referee's decisions. Smith also scored the winning goal in Corinthian's memorable 2-1 Charity Shield win against the professionals of Aston Villa

Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

 played at Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace National Sports Centre

The National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace in south London, England is a large sports centre and athletics stadium. It was opened in 1964 in Crystal Palace Park, close to the site of the former Crystal Palace, in the former parkland and also usurping part of the former grand prix circuit.It was...

 in November 1900.

International career

Smith captained the England

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 team on at least 13, and possibly as many as 16, occasions (early records are inexact) between 1896 and 1901, winning at least eight games, possibly as many as ten, and drawing two. His most productive game in an England shirt came in February 1899, when he netted three times in only five minutes and four times in all during the 13-2 demolition of Ireland

Northern Ireland national football team

The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...

.

"Fine fellows they were," the great Welsh player Billy Meredith

Billy Meredith

William Henry "Billy" Meredith was a Welsh footballer. He was considered one of the early superstars of football due to his performances, notably for Manchester City and Manchester United. He won each domestic trophy in the English football league and also gained 48 caps for Wales, for whom he...

 wrote of the Smith-led, all-amateur England forward line of 1895,

"some six feet three in their socks and carrying plenty of weight with their inches. And they were not afraid to use their weight either, as some of us discovered. All in true sporting fashion, of course, for they were just as ready to take as to give hard knocks. Every man of them could run like a deer and before the game was over most of us were crying bellows to mend. Most of them were Corinthian stars and they played the Corinthian game. 'Twas a grand sight to see their forward line sweeping down the field, though probably our backs didn't think so."

G.O. Smith's official record - at a time when only three internationals (against Scotland

Scotland national football team

The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

, Wales

Wales national football team

The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...

 and Ireland) were played each year - was 20 caps

Progression of England association football caps record

This is a progressive list of association footballers who have held or co-held the record for international caps for the England national football team, beginning with Charles Chenery and Ernest Greenhalgh, the only England players to appear in both of the first two international games...

 and 11 international goals in the period 1894 to 1901. Some authorities, including the author of the article on Smith published in the Dictionary of National Biography

Dictionary of National Biography

The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...

, credit him with 21 caps, one of which was won in the unofficial 12-0 victory over Germany

Germany national football team

The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....

 in 1901. That game was Smith's last appearance in an England shirt.

Playing style

G.O. Smith was renowned throughout his playing career for his exceptional balance and timing, and was further noted for his close control of the ball.

Unlike the majority of centre-forwards of the day, Smith also excelled at passing. "He was," his obituary in The Times contended, "a maker rather than a scorer of goals," and the skill that, more than any other, set him apart from his contemporaries was his ability to draw defenders around him and then slide an accurate pass to an unmarked team-mate well positioned to score. Steve Bloomer

Steve Bloomer

Steve Bloomer was an English footballer and manager who played for Derby County, Middlesbrough and England during the 1890s and 1900s. Bloomer remains a legend at Derby County and the club anthem, Steve Bloomer's Watchin', is played before every home game...

, Smith's professional colleague in several international matches, remarked that it was for this reason that he would rather play alongside Smith than any other centre-forward. The Dictionary of National Biography contends that he "transformed the role of the centre-forward from that of an individual striker into a unifier of the forward line, indeed the whole team."

Physically, Smith seemed unprepossessing. Though standing nearly 5 feet 11 inches, a good height for the day, he was of slight build, suffered from asthma and lacked the obvious brawn that had characterised predecessors in the England team such as W.N. "Nuts" Cobbold

William Cobbold

William Nevill Cobbold , familiarly known as "Nuts" Cobbold, was one of the leading footballers of the Victorian era and on several occasions a member of the England national football team...

 in a period in which body-checking and other rough tactics were considered fair play. He was also noted for his reluctance to head the ball, stating that he would be happy to see the practice banned. "G.O." atoned for these deficiencies by positioning himself intelligently and by shooting accurately, and - so his obituary observed - "invariably low", though opponents testified that he was also "hard as a whipcord" and by no means easy to shake off the ball.

Reputation

By the time of his retirement, Smith was perhaps the most admired figure in the English game, familiarly known to several generations of schoolboys simply by his initials at a time when only one other sportsman - the cricketer W.G. Grace - was so recognised. Despite the emergence of later, equally capable centre forwards in a more recognisably modern mould - most notably Vivian Woodward

Vivian Woodward

Vivian John Woodward was an English amateur football player who enjoyed the peak of his career in the late 1900s and early 1910s.-Club career:...

, Smith's successor in the England team - his abilities were recalled and praised well into the 1940s. The International Federation of Football History & Statistics, a scholarly group based in Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...

, describes him as "the most brilliant, indeed perfect, footballer in the world around the turn of the century".

"G.O." was, according to contemporaries, unusually popular among professional footballers who were generally wary of the leading amateurs, not least because - wrote Sir Frederick Wall, the long-serving Secretary of the Football Association

The Football Association

The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...

 - he was "a man without petty pride". Steve Bloomer, Wall recalled, "had an intense admiration" for his England striking partner, and Bloomer himself remarked that, unlike the majority of amateurs of the day, Smith was invariably courteous to his professional team-mates (and social inferiors): "He was the finest type of amateur, one who would always shake hands with us professionals in a manner which said plainly he was pleased to meet them."

In his youth, G.O. Smith was also a noted cricketer, representing Oxford University and scoring a match-winning 132 runs in the fourth innings of the 1896 Varsity Match to win the game against Cambridge. He batted right-handed. showing excellent timing with his drives and cutting beautifully, bowled reasonably well, and fielded at cover point. In the field he moved - his obituary in Wisden

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...

 noted - "gracefully with quickness in all he did."

Retirement

Smith retired from football shortly after his final international appearance and became joint headmaster at Ludgrove School

Ludgrove School

Ludgrove School is an independent preparatory boarding school for about 200 boys, aged from seven or eight years to thirteen. It is situated in the civil parish of Wokingham Without, adjoining the town of Wokingham in the English county of Berkshire.-History:...

, a preparatory school

Preparatory school (UK)

In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...

 in Barnet

Barnet

High Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet, North London, England. It is a suburban development built around a twelfth-century settlement and is located north north-west of Charing Cross. Its name is often abbreviated to Barnet, which is also the name of the London...

 recognised as one of the principal feeder institutions for Eton College

Eton College

Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

. His fellow headmaster, Arthur Dunn

Arthur Dunn

Arthur Tempest Blakiston Dunn was a noted amateur footballer who founded the English boarding school Ludgrove in 1892.-Football career:...

 – who had founded Ludgrove in 1892 – was another noted amateur footballer and had also played as centre-forward for England. Dunn died, aged only 41, a few months after Smith joined the school, and thereafter G.O. shared his duties with his fellow Corinthian, England captain, and great friend, William Oakley

William Oakley

William John Oakley was a Victorian era footballer who played as a full back for the renowned amateur clubs the Corinthians and Casuals, and captained the England team once, in a match against Ireland in 1901....

. He also taught, from 1918 at Sunningdale Preparatory School

Sunningdale School

Sunningdale School is a family-run boys' preparatory independent school of around 100 pupils, situated in Sunningdale in Berkshire, close to London, England.-Introduction:...

 and died, aged 71, in retirement at his home in Hampshire.
Gilbert Oswald Smith (born 25 November 1872 in Croydon

Croydon

Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...

, Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

, died 6 December 1943 in Lymington

Lymington

Lymington is a port on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It is to the east of the South East Dorset conurbation, and faces Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight which is connected to it by a car ferry, operated by Wightlink. The town...

, Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

), familiarly known as G. O. Smith or simply as G. O. or Jo, was a nineteenth century amateur footballer often referred to as "the first great centre forward".

Smith was educated, from 1886 to 1892, at Charterhouse School

Charterhouse School

Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...

, one of the principal nurseries of the Association Football game, and learned many of the skills that subsequently brought him fame while boarding at the school. He went on to study at Keble College, Oxford

Keble College, Oxford

Keble College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to the south by Museum Road, and to the west by Blackhall...

 and was by profession a school teacher. He was unmarried.

Club career

Smith played football for Oxford University

Oxford University A.F.C.

Oxford University Association Football Club is an English football club representing the University of Oxford.-History:Formed in 1872, the club was a giant of the 1870s, winning the FA Cup 2-0 against Royal Engineers in 1874 and finishing the competition as runners up in 1873, 1877 and 1880, the...

, representing the team from his freshman year, winning three out of four Varsity match

Varsity match

A varsity match is a sporting fixture between two university rivals; in its original and most common form, it is used to describe meetings between Oxford University and Cambridge University.-Popular British and Irish Varsity matches:*University of Oxford v...

es played against Cambridge, and captaining Oxford in his final year. On going down from university, he joined the Corinthians, then the best-known amateur football club in Britain

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

 and one not only renowned for its promotion of the ideals of sportsmanship and fair play, but also fully capable of meeting the best professional teams of the day on equal terms. Smith's scoring record for the club - 132 goals in 137 matches - remains one of the best strike rates in the history of the game, equating to one goal for every 93 minutes played. His record for The Casuals F.C. was even more impressive scoring 42 goals in 29 appearances.

In the course of his club career, Smith captained Corinthian in the first Sheriff of London Charity Shield

Sheriff of London Charity Shield

The Sheriff of London Charity Shield was an English football competition played once a year between an amateur and a professional side in England.The first game was played on March 19, 1898, after being devised by Sir Thomas Dewar...

 fixture, a competition created to match the best professional and amateur teams in Britain. The match, played in 1898 against Sheffield United

Sheffield United F.C.

Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...

, proved controversial and with the score standing at 1-1 after 90 minutes, the professional side declined to play extra time because they had disagreed with several of the referee's decisions. Smith also scored the winning goal in Corinthian's memorable 2-1 Charity Shield win against the professionals of Aston Villa

Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

 played at Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace National Sports Centre

The National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace in south London, England is a large sports centre and athletics stadium. It was opened in 1964 in Crystal Palace Park, close to the site of the former Crystal Palace, in the former parkland and also usurping part of the former grand prix circuit.It was...

 in November 1900.

International career

Smith captained the England

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 team on at least 13, and possibly as many as 16, occasions (early records are inexact) between 1896 and 1901, winning at least eight games, possibly as many as ten, and drawing two. His most productive game in an England shirt came in February 1899, when he netted three times in only five minutes and four times in all during the 13-2 demolition of Ireland

Northern Ireland national football team

The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...

.

"Fine fellows they were," the great Welsh player Billy Meredith

Billy Meredith

William Henry "Billy" Meredith was a Welsh footballer. He was considered one of the early superstars of football due to his performances, notably for Manchester City and Manchester United. He won each domestic trophy in the English football league and also gained 48 caps for Wales, for whom he...

 wrote of the Smith-led, all-amateur England forward line of 1895,

"some six feet three in their socks and carrying plenty of weight with their inches. And they were not afraid to use their weight either, as some of us discovered. All in true sporting fashion, of course, for they were just as ready to take as to give hard knocks. Every man of them could run like a deer and before the game was over most of us were crying bellows to mend. Most of them were Corinthian stars and they played the Corinthian game. 'Twas a grand sight to see their forward line sweeping down the field, though probably our backs didn't think so."

G.O. Smith's official record - at a time when only three internationals (against Scotland

Scotland national football team

The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

, Wales

Wales national football team

The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...

 and Ireland) were played each year - was 20 caps

Progression of England association football caps record

This is a progressive list of association footballers who have held or co-held the record for international caps for the England national football team, beginning with Charles Chenery and Ernest Greenhalgh, the only England players to appear in both of the first two international games...

 and 11 international goals in the period 1894 to 1901. Some authorities, including the author of the article on Smith published in the Dictionary of National Biography

Dictionary of National Biography

The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...

, credit him with 21 caps, one of which was won in the unofficial 12-0 victory over Germany

Germany national football team

The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....

 in 1901. That game was Smith's last appearance in an England shirt.

Playing style

G.O. Smith was renowned throughout his playing career for his exceptional balance and timing, and was further noted for his close control of the ball.

Unlike the majority of centre-forwards of the day, Smith also excelled at passing. "He was," his obituary in The Times contended, "a maker rather than a scorer of goals," and the skill that, more than any other, set him apart from his contemporaries was his ability to draw defenders around him and then slide an accurate pass to an unmarked team-mate well positioned to score. Steve Bloomer

Steve Bloomer

Steve Bloomer was an English footballer and manager who played for Derby County, Middlesbrough and England during the 1890s and 1900s. Bloomer remains a legend at Derby County and the club anthem, Steve Bloomer's Watchin', is played before every home game...

, Smith's professional colleague in several international matches, remarked that it was for this reason that he would rather play alongside Smith than any other centre-forward. The Dictionary of National Biography contends that he "transformed the role of the centre-forward from that of an individual striker into a unifier of the forward line, indeed the whole team."

Physically, Smith seemed unprepossessing. Though standing nearly 5 feet 11 inches, a good height for the day, he was of slight build, suffered from asthma and lacked the obvious brawn that had characterised predecessors in the England team such as W.N. "Nuts" Cobbold

William Cobbold

William Nevill Cobbold , familiarly known as "Nuts" Cobbold, was one of the leading footballers of the Victorian era and on several occasions a member of the England national football team...

 in a period in which body-checking and other rough tactics were considered fair play. He was also noted for his reluctance to head the ball, stating that he would be happy to see the practice banned. "G.O." atoned for these deficiencies by positioning himself intelligently and by shooting accurately, and - so his obituary observed - "invariably low", though opponents testified that he was also "hard as a whipcord" and by no means easy to shake off the ball.

Reputation

By the time of his retirement, Smith was perhaps the most admired figure in the English game, familiarly known to several generations of schoolboys simply by his initials at a time when only one other sportsman - the cricketer W.G. Grace - was so recognised. Despite the emergence of later, equally capable centre forwards in a more recognisably modern mould - most notably Vivian Woodward

Vivian Woodward

Vivian John Woodward was an English amateur football player who enjoyed the peak of his career in the late 1900s and early 1910s.-Club career:...

, Smith's successor in the England team - his abilities were recalled and praised well into the 1940s. The International Federation of Football History & Statistics, a scholarly group based in Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...

, describes him as "the most brilliant, indeed perfect, footballer in the world around the turn of the century".

"G.O." was, according to contemporaries, unusually popular among professional footballers who were generally wary of the leading amateurs, not least because - wrote Sir Frederick Wall, the long-serving Secretary of the Football Association

The Football Association

The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...

 - he was "a man without petty pride". Steve Bloomer, Wall recalled, "had an intense admiration" for his England striking partner, and Bloomer himself remarked that, unlike the majority of amateurs of the day, Smith was invariably courteous to his professional team-mates (and social inferiors): "He was the finest type of amateur, one who would always shake hands with us professionals in a manner which said plainly he was pleased to meet them."

In his youth, G.O. Smith was also a noted cricketer, representing Oxford University and scoring a match-winning 132 runs in the fourth innings of the 1896 Varsity Match to win the game against Cambridge. He batted right-handed. showing excellent timing with his drives and cutting beautifully, bowled reasonably well, and fielded at cover point. In the field he moved - his obituary in Wisden

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...

 noted - "gracefully with quickness in all he did."

Retirement

Smith retired from football shortly after his final international appearance and became joint headmaster at Ludgrove School

Ludgrove School

Ludgrove School is an independent preparatory boarding school for about 200 boys, aged from seven or eight years to thirteen. It is situated in the civil parish of Wokingham Without, adjoining the town of Wokingham in the English county of Berkshire.-History:...

, a preparatory school

Preparatory school (UK)

In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...

 in Barnet

Barnet

High Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet, North London, England. It is a suburban development built around a twelfth-century settlement and is located north north-west of Charing Cross. Its name is often abbreviated to Barnet, which is also the name of the London...

 recognised as one of the principal feeder institutions for Eton College

Eton College

Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

. His fellow headmaster, Arthur Dunn

Arthur Dunn

Arthur Tempest Blakiston Dunn was a noted amateur footballer who founded the English boarding school Ludgrove in 1892.-Football career:...

 – who had founded Ludgrove in 1892 – was another noted amateur footballer and had also played as centre-forward for England. Dunn died, aged only 41, a few months after Smith joined the school, and thereafter G.O. shared his duties with his fellow Corinthian, England captain, and great friend, William Oakley

William Oakley

William John Oakley was a Victorian era footballer who played as a full back for the renowned amateur clubs the Corinthians and Casuals, and captained the England team once, in a match against Ireland in 1901....

. He also taught, from 1918 at Sunningdale Preparatory School

Sunningdale School

Sunningdale School is a family-run boys' preparatory independent school of around 100 pupils, situated in Sunningdale in Berkshire, close to London, England.-Introduction:...

 and died, aged 71, in retirement at his home in Hampshire.

External links

• The FA's Record of Smith's International Career
• 19th century international football records
• Brian Glanville on the development of the centre forward
• IFFHS on G.O. Smith
• Profile as England captain
• Details of Smith's England caps from the FA website
• Details of Smith's England career, including goals scored
• G. O. Smith — biography on the Oxford University Association Football Club web site
• Cricinfo: Gilbert Smith