Club Career
Smith played football for Oxford University, representing the team from his freshman year, winning three out of four Varsity matches 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 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 fixture, a competition created to match the best professional and amateur teams in Britain. The match, played in 1898 against Sheffield United, 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 played at Crystal Palace in November 1900.
Read more about this topic: G. O. Smith
Famous quotes containing the words club and/or career:
“The creation of “strong-minded” women, so-called, is due to the individualism of men, to the modern selfish and speculative spirit which absorbs everything within itself and leaves women nothing but self-assertion for their protection and support.”
—“Jennie June” Croly 1829–1901, U.S. founder of the woman’s club movement, journalist, author, editor. Demorest’s Illustrated Monthly and Mirror of Fashions, p. 44 (February 1870)
“I doubt that I would have taken so many leaps in my own writing or been as clear about my feminist and political commitments if I had not been anointed as early as I was. Some major form of recognition seems to have to mark a woman’s career for her to be able to go out on a limb without having her credentials questioned.”
—Ruth Behar (b. 1956)