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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joseph Smith[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 25 June 1889[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Dudley, England[1] | ||
| Date of death | 11 August 1971 (aged 82)[1] | ||
| Place of death | Blackpool, England[1] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 7+1⁄4 in (1.71 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Inside-left | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1904–1908 | Newcastle Parish Schools | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1908–1927 | Bolton Wanderers | 449 | (254) |
| 1927–1929 | Stockport County | 70 | (61) |
| 1929–1931 | Darwen (player-manager) | 51 | (42) |
| Total | 570 | (357) | |
| International career | |||
| 1913–1920 | England | 5 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1929–1931 | Darwen (player-manager) | ||
| 1931–1935 | Reading | ||
| 1935–1958 | Blackpool | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Joseph Smith (25 June 1889 – 11 August 1971) was an English professional football player and manager. He is eleventh on the list of England's top-flight goal scorers, scoring 243 league goals. He was manager of Blackpool for 23 years and guided them to victory in the 1953 FA Cup final, the only time they have won the competition since their 1887 inception.
A forward, he began his career at Crewe Alexandra but did not play a first-team game for the club. He instead made his name at Bolton Wanderers, where with 277 league and cup goals between 1908 and 1927, he is the club's second highest goalscorer, only eight behind Nat Lofthouse. He won the Second Division title with Bolton 1908–09, and played in FA Cup final victories in 1923 and 1926. He later hit 61 goals in 70 league games for Stockport County, before being appointed player-manager at Darwen in 1929. Two years later, he was appointed manager of Reading and narrowly missed out on promotion during his four seasons in charge. He became Blackpool manager in August 1935 and remained in this position until April 1958. He led the "Seasiders" to one victory in three FA Cup final appearances (1948, 1951, and 1953), and also led the club to runners-up spot in the Second Division in 1936–37, second place in the First Division in 1955–56, and runners-up in the 1953 FA Charity Shield.