Liverpool’s top former captains
By Ethan Lowe
Tommy Smith
Appearances – 638
Games as captain – 157
Goals – 48
“I was born with football in my blood. Red of course, not Blue. There are no half measures in Liverpool, either in the pubs or in a football sense. My grandfather and father supported Liverpool. There was no debate. No arguement. I would also follow the Mersey Reds. Indeed it went a little bit deeper than that with me. I was a fanatic, brought up on a diet of football, football and more football.”
Just this quote alone should show how deep the passion ran for Tommy Smith. As a youth, he impressed Bill Shankly enough to bypass 2 of the 4 Liverpool reserve teams.
He made his debut for Liverpool in 1963, but only played one game that season and didn’t feature in the next. He scored his first goal in his second appearance on the 29th of August 1964, and after playing his third game Shankly said –“The game marked out Tommy Smith as a fine player. The boy has arrived”.
After earning his way to the captaincy, he led the team to the 1971 FA Cup final, which Liverpool lost to Arsenal in extra time. In 1973, Smith took the team to their first double success of the league and the UEFA Cup.
After this season however, Smith complained to Shankly about being left out of the team for a match. He then had the captaincy removed and given to Emlyn Hughes, who had previously suggested Shankly give a younger player the captaincy.
Although Smith eventually resolved his differences with Shankly, a long running feud between him and Hughes formed and persisted.
His Liverpool career ended with him scoring a beautiful header to win the UEFA Cup for the Reds, to which the commentator screamed – “It’s Tommy Smith! Oh what an end to a career.”
Next: Number 7