Great player and a sad loss, unsung hero of the great Liverpool team of the 70's when they were a likeable club!
Former Liverpool captain Tommy Smith, who helped the club to domestic and European success in the 1960s and 1970s, has died aged 74.
Known as the "Anfield Iron", Smith had an 18-year career at Anfield, during which he won four league titles.
He scored in the 1977 European Cup final as Liverpool beat Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1 to win the trophy for the first time.
Liverpool said that they were "deeply saddened" by his death.
Smith, who made 638 appearances for the Reds between 1960 and 1978, had struggled with dementia and other ailments during his later years.
His daughter, Janette Simpson, told the club website on Friday: "Dad died very peacefully in his sleep shortly after 4.30pm today at his nursing home.
"He had been growing increasingly frail and suffering from a variety of ailments over the last three months especially.
"We are obviously all devastated."
'He was a leader'
Yes proper old fashioned player took no prisoners.
RIP Tommy.
He was made of granite. Nobody tackles tougher or harder than an Englishman, and Tommy Smith was that Englishman.
Tommy Smith Rest In Peace. His opponents rest in pieces.
No one messed with Tommy. A real competitor. A tackle from him was always full blooded. RIP.
Unless I am mistaken the opening montage of Match of the Day one year showed Tommy tackling Len Glover but Tommy got his weighting wrong whereas Glover was spot on and it ended up with Tommy flying through the air
"We were playing at Anfield and I was out on the halfway line. It was one of those lovely days you get in winter with a bright, low sun.
"I was running onto a through ball, but out of the corner of my eye I could see you-know-who. I closed my eyes and waited for the crash, but after it Tommy was lying on the floor and the ref was saying, 'Glover, come here.'
"I thought he was going to send me off, but as Tommy picked himself up he said the words you never want to hear: 'Ref... don't send him off.'"
Keegan in his last book talks a lot about Tommy Smith, a tough character no doubt that will be sadly missed.
One tackle by Tommy Smith on Johnny Haynes made me shudder and fear for his career.
Haynes got up and walked away.
Quote from: Stoneleigh Loyalist on April 13, 2019, 02:03:41 PM
One tackle by Tommy Smith on Johnny Haynes made me shudder and fear for his career.
Haynes got up and walked away.
If that had happened today, the modern player would be rolling around the pitch play acting, with his face contorted, and holding his leg pretending to be injured. Football is eating itself from the inside.
Thank you.
You have said what I intended to add but didn't!
