G. O. Smith - International Career

International Career

Smith captained the England 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.

"Fine fellows they were," the great Welsh player Billy Meredith 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, Wales and Ireland) were played each year - was 20 caps 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, credit him with 21 caps, one of which was won in the unofficial 12-0 victory over Germany in 1901. That game was Smith's last appearance in an England shirt.