Biography
Outside right Harold Raymond “Ray” Smith joined the Tigers as a youngster in May 1951 and signed his first professional contract for the club in August 1952. This was a time when Hull City were signing numerous high profile players so it was no surprise that Smith had to wait over two years for his first chance to play in City’s first team. After making his debut in November 1954 Smith returned to first team action in April 1955, selected by newly appointed manager Bob Brocklebank. After narrowly avoiding relegation, City began the 1955/56 season with Ray starting the first three matches at inside forward. He returned in October at outside right but was then back in the Reserves for three months, coming back to first team action in March 1956 for nine consecutive starts. During this final spell of action he scored his two goals for the club, in a 1-1 draw at West Ham and a 4-1 win over Barnsley.
Ray left the Tigers in the 1956 close season and joined Midland League side Peterborough United, filling the breach when fellow Hull City forward Trevor Porteous failed to agree transfer terms with the Cambridgeshire side. Posh won the Midland League in each of Smith’s first four seasons at the club and Ray’s role was pivotal as he scored 82 times in 133 first team appearances. Peterborough were elected to join Division Four in the summer of 1960 and after Posh agreed a fee with Hull City for Ray’s Football League registration he made an impressive return to the senior game – he missed only one game all season, became club captain and scored 17 league goals including hattricks against Millwall in December 1960 and Aldershot in March 1961. Ray’s goals, allied with the 54 goals netted by strike partner Terry Bly, propelled Peterborough to the Division Four title in the club’s first Football League season and Smith’s form continued at the start of the 1961/62 season when he netted five times in his first 13 starts. As the season wore on he missed six weeks due to a knee injury, an ailment that eventually precipitated the end of his playing career two years later. When Smith returned to the Posh first team his goals had dried up, although his form did return in the last couple of months of the season. Ray began the 1962/63 season with two goals in three games but his relationship with the Peterborough management weakened and after scoring a September 1962 goal against his hometown club he left Posh a month later to join local Division Three rivals Northampton Town for a £4,000 fee. He had scored 36 goals in 113 senior appearances for Peterborough, taking his overall tally of goals for the club to 118.
Ray’s time with the Cobblers was short lived, he missed three months of football to injury and scored four times in 14 starts during the remainder of the 1962/63 season as Northampton won the Division Three title. He started the 1963/64 Division Two season as first choice inside right but in October 1963 he was on the move again having scored eight goals for the Cobblers in 24 starts. Ray joined Luton Town, his third Division Three side in twelve months, for a £5,000 fee but continued to struggle with injuries – after only two goals in 13 starts for the Hatters he retired in August 1964, having failed to return to Luton for pre-season training and suffered an Football Assoiciation suspension.
Ray returned to Hull where he worked for an insurance and estate agency firm. In October 1966, after two years without a club, he returned to amateur football and signed for Yorkshire League side Bridlington Town, but he drifted out of the game again by the 1967 close season.
Ray rose to become a partner at insurance firm Smith Grayburn and Young but retired in 1991 to focus once again on his sporting prowess, captaining the Hull and District Bowling Club team in the early 1990s as they lifted two Yorkshire League titles. Later in life he returned to live out his days in Peterborough, the city where he made his mark as a footballer – he died in Peterborough in November 2024.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 13 September 1934, Hull
Hull City First Game: 13 November 1954, Bristol Rovers H (Division Two), 20 years, 61 days old
Hull City Final Game: 21 April 1956, Middlesbrough A (Division Two), 21 years, 221 days old
Clubs
Hull City (1951-1956), Peterborough United (1956-1962), Northampton Town (1962-1963), Luton Town (1963-1964), Bridlington Town (1966-1967)
Hull City Record
Career: 23 apps, 2 goals
Ray Smith| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951/52 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1952/53 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1953/54 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1954/55 | 6 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1955/56 | 17 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |