Robert Smellie (footballer)

Robert Smellie
Personal information
Date of birth 29 March 1869
Place of birth Wishaw, Scotland
Position(s) Left back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
– Annbank
1892–1893 Sunderland 22 (0)
1893–1894 Walsall Town Swifts 14 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Robert Smellie (also spelled Smillie, born 29 March 1869)[1] was a Scottish footballer who played as a left back.

Smillie initially played for Annbank where he was in the side that reached the quarter-finals of the 1891–92 Scottish Cup[2][3] and won the Ayrshire Cup in the same year.[4] After signing for reigning English Football League champions Sunderland who were seeking to replace defensive players Donald Gow, John Oliver and John Murray who had all moved on,[5][6][7][8] Smellie helped the Wearsiders retain their title in the 1892–93 season (along with former Annbank teammate Billy Dunlop and almost an entire team of Scots), but despite their collective success, it was felt they were stronger in attack than defence and by the end of the campaign he had fallen out of favour towards the end of the campaign and was not retained[9] – Peter Meehan was brought in as a replacement and Donald Gow later also returned to the club. Smellie moved on to second-tier Walsall Town Swifts where he played for one season against the likes of Manchester City (in their final season of being known as Ardwick), Liverpool[10] and Newcastle United, leaving a match against the latter in December 1893 with an injury[11] which may have been significant as it was his last appearance for Walsall.[12]

He has often been confused with the better-known Bob Smellie of Queen's Park who was a Scotland international in the same era, playing in the same position[13][14][15] (circumstantial evidence, and more significantly both men playing matches for different clubs on the same day,[4] has shown them to be two different people).[16] Due to this issue, few of his personal details are published consistently.

  1. ^ Rob Mason, Mike Gibson, Barry Jackson: Sunderland AFC – The Absolute Record. Twocan, 2020, ISBN 978-1-913362-79-9, p. 341.
  2. ^ Saturday's Football. | The Scottish Cup. | Rangers V. Annbank., The Glasgow Herald, 1 February 1892
  3. ^ Weighed In The Balance. The Scottish Referee, 1 February 1892. Scan via London Hearts Supporters Club
  4. ^ a b Annbank v. Hurlford—Final Ayrshire Cup. The Glasgow Herald, 15 February 1892
  5. ^ Echoes From Sunderland. | Propspects Of The Season. The Scottish Referee, 12 August 1892. Scan via London Hearts Supporters Club
  6. ^ Echoes From Sunderland. The Scottish Referee, 19 August 1892. Scan via London Hearts Supporters Club
  7. ^ Echoes From Sunderland. | Messers Tyzack And Watson Visit Donald Gow. The Scottish Referee, 26 August 1892. Scan via London Hearts Supporters Club
  8. ^ Echoes From Sunderland. The Scottish Referee, 23 September 1892. Scan via London Hearts Supporters Club
  9. ^ Echoes From Sunderland. | A Startling Result. The Scottish Referee, 28 April 1893. Scan via London Hearts Supporters Club
  10. ^ Opposition Player Profile | Robert Smellie, LFC History. Retrieved 21 February 2022
  11. ^ Walsall Town Swifts 1-2 Newcastle United, Toon1892. Retrieved 21 February 2022
  12. ^ Tony Matthews: The Saddlers: The Complete Record of Walsall Football Club. Breedon Books Publishing, Derby 1999, ISBN 978-1-85983-156-4, p. 143.
  13. ^ Robert Smellie, TheStatCat. Retrieved 21 February 2022
  14. ^ Smith, Paul (2013). Scotland Who's Who. Pitch Publishing. ISBN 9781909178847, p. 259
  15. ^ Dykes, Garth; Lamming, Doug (2000). All the Lads: A Complete Who's Who of Sunderland AFC. Great Britain. ISBN 9781899538157.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  16. ^ Mitchell, Andy (2021). The men who made Scotland: The definitive Who's Who of Scottish Football Internationalists 1872-1939. Amazon. ISBN 9798513846642.