Barry Smith (footballer, born 1974)

Barry Smith (born 19 February 1974 in Paisley) is a Scottish football player and coach. Smith played in the right back, centre back, and defensive midfielder roles for Celtic, Dundee, Valur, Partick Thistle, Greenock Morton and Brechin City. Smith was admitted into Dundee's Hall of Fame[2] having made 400 appearances for the club.

Barry Smith
Alloa chairman Mike Mulraney shakes hands with manager Barry Smith (right)
Personal information
Full name Barry Martin Smith
Date of birth (1974-02-19) 19 February 1974
Place of birth Paisley, Scotland
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Dumbarton (Assistant manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1995 Celtic 19 (0)
1995–2006 Dundee 368 (4)
2006–2008 Valur 41 (1)
2007 → Partick Thistle (loan) 12 (1)
2008 → Greenock Morton (loan) 5 (0)
2009–2010 Dundee 0 (0)
2009–2010 → Brechin City (loan) 53 (0)
2019 Brechin City 0 (0)
Total 499 (6)
National team
1992 Scotland U21[1] 5 (0)
Teams managed
2010–2013 Dundee
2014–2015 Alloa Athletic
2015–2016 Aldershot Town
2016–2017 East Fife
2017–2018 Raith Rovers
2018–2019 Brechin City
2019 Forfar Athletic (assistant manager)
2020– Dumbarton (assistant manager)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Smith played on loan for Brechin City while managing the Dundee under-19 side. He became Dundee first team manager in October 2010, when the club had entered financial administration. During this period, Smith led the team to a club record 23-game unbeaten streak in the league. He has since managed Alloa Athletic, Aldershot Town, East Fife, Raith Rovers and Brechin City.

Club career

Celtic

Smith began his career with Scottish Premier League side Celtic. He made his début aged 17 and played 22 games, including two Old Firm matches, between 1991 and 1995.

Dundee

Smith never gained a regular place at Celtic Park and joined fellow Scottish side Dundee in August 1995. He quickly established himself in the team at right-back and was made club captain in 1997, the same year Dundee achieved promotion to the Premier Division. After playing with the Dens Park side for ten-and-a-half seasons, Smith reached his testimonial year. He also took on the role of joint caretaker manager (with Bobby Mann) for the final two games of the 2005–2006 season following the dismissal of Alan Kernaghan.

Valur

At the end of the 2005–2006 season, Smith transferred to Icelandic outfit Valur, helping them to third place (in 2006) and winning (in 2007) the Icelandic Premier Division, their first championship in 20 years.

Partick Thistle and Greenock Morton

During the Icelandic close season, Smith was loaned back to Scottish clubs. In January 2007, he joined Partick Thistle, making 18 appearances and scoring one goal, while in January 2008 he joined Greenock Morton, making 5 appearances until he underwent a cartilage operation which kept him out for the rest of the season.

Return to Dundee

On 4 November 2008, Smith returned to Dundee as U19 coach, with his registration as a player following in January,[3] whereupon he was loaned out to neighbours Brechin City, with the ability to be recalled at any time. Brechin City's status as a part-time team enabled Smith to continue in his role as U19 Coach at Dens Park.[4]

Coaching career

Dundee

On 15 October 2010, Smith was appointed manager of Dundee. He succeeded Gordon Chisholm, who had been made redundant after the club entered administration. Smith led the team to a club record unbeaten league streak of 23 games, guiding Dundee to safety despite the team receiving a 25-point deduction for entering administration for the second time in seven years (confirmed after a 0–1 win away to Ross County). This was rewarded, on 10 May 2011, when Smith signed a new three-year deal at Dundee, contracting him as manager until the end of the 2013–14 season.

Despite finishing second in the 2011–12 Scottish First Division, Dundee were admitted to the Scottish Premier League due to the liquidation of Rangers.[5] Dundee struggled in the early part of the 2012–13 Scottish Premier League, winning three out of 22 matches.[5] Despite this, the Dundee board restated their backing for Smith, citing the difficulty in adjusting to the SPL in unusual circumstances.[5] However, just 47 days later, Smith and Dundee parted company.[6] His sacking was criticised by St Johnstone manager Steve Lomas, believing Smith deserved another chance.[7]

Alloa

On 1 July 2013, Smith joined Ross County as the club's Under-20s coach.[8] In January 2014, Smith was appointed manager of Scottish Championship club Alloa Athletic.[9] He guided Alloa to the final of the 2014–15 Scottish Challenge Cup.[10] Alloa defeated Rangers in the semi-final, with Smith noting the fact he had become the first Alloa manager to win a match against Rangers.[10] Smith said in December 2014 that he hoped to return to a full-time management job.[11] After a run of one win in 13 matches, he resigned as Alloa manager in March 2015.[11]

Aldershot

On 27 April 2015, Aldershot Town appointed Barry Smith as their manager.[12] He resigned a year later due to family issues.

East Fife

Smith was appointed manager of Scottish League One club East Fife in December 2016.[13] He left the club on 30 May 2017.[14]

Raith Rovers

After leaving East Fife, Smith took over as manager of recently relegated Scottish League One side Raith Rovers on 30 May 2017.[14] Rovers finished second in 2017–18 Scottish League One, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion and then losing in the playoffs to Alloa.[15] Smith resigned from his position on 4 September 2018, with the team sitting in second place.[15]

Brechin City

Smith was appointed Brechin City manager in November 2018.[16]

On 13 July 2019, Smith was forced to play himself in a League Cup game against Forfar Athletic due to a shortage of players, nine years after retiring from playing.[17] Smith left Brechin on 19 August 2019, after they had lost their first three matches of the 2019–20 Scottish League Two season.[18]

Forfar and Dundee return

Smith was made assistant manager for Forfar Athletic underneath manager Jim Weir in October 2019.[19] During Smith's short tenure with the Loons, Weir was recovering from a car crash, and eventually had to resign due to complications caused by the crash.[20] As part of a new change in management, Smith left Forfar shortly after. Smith made his return to Dundee a couple of weeks later, taking up a role in the club's academy headed by Gordon Strachan and Stephen Wright.[21]

Dumbarton

Smith was appointed Jim Duffy's assistant at Scottish League One side Dumbarton in January 2020 after the departure of Craig McPherson.[22]

Managerial statistics
As of 17 August 2019[23]
Team From To Record
GWDLWin %
Dundee 15 October 2010 20 February 2013 102 39 27 36 038.24
Alloa Athletic 20 January 2014 7 March 2015 54 13 10 31 024.07
Aldershot Town 27 April 2015 30 April 2016 50 17 9 24 034.00
East Fife 12 December 2016 30 May 2017 23 9 6 8 039.13
Raith Rovers 30 May 2017 4 September 2018 56 31 12 13 055.36
Brechin City 7 November 2018 19 August 2019 33 6 6 21 018.18
Total 318 115 70 133 036.16

Honours

Player
Dundee
Valur

Manager
Dundee

References
  1. http://www.fitbastats.com/scotlandu21/player.php?playerid=205
  2. "Hall of Fame Inductees". dundeefc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  3. "Barry comes home too". dundeefc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 4 November 2008.
  4. "Barry on loan to Brechin". Dundee FC Online. 26 January 2009. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
  5. "Dundee give backing to manager Barry Smith". BBC Sport. 4 January 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  6. "Dundee FC and Barry Smith Part Company". Dundee FC Online. 20 February 2013. Archived from the original on 6 December 2013. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
  7. "Steve Lomas: Dundee didn't give Barry Smith a fair crack at job". STV. 21 February 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  8. "Former Dundee manager Barry Smith joins Ross County's coaching team". STV Sport. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  9. "Alloa Athletic: Barry Smith takes over as new Wasps manager". BBC Sport. 30 January 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  10. "Alloa 3-2 Rangers: Ally McCoist vows to stay on after shock loss". BBC Sport. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  11. "Barry Smith resigns as manager of Alloa Athletic". BBC Sport. 7 March 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  12. "Aldershot Town appoint Barry Smith as manager". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  13. Robertson, Neil (12 December 2016). "Barry Smith reveals delight at becoming East Fife boss". The Courier. DC Thomson. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  14. "Manager to Depart Bayview". East Fife FC. 30 May 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  15. "Raith Rovers: Barry Smith resigns as manager". BBC Sport. 4 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  16. "Brechin City: Barry Smith appointed as manager to replace Darren Dods". BBC Sport. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  17. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48975579
  18. "Barry Smith: Brechin City part company with manager after winless start in League Two". BBC Sport. 19 August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  19. Cran, George (16 October 2019). "Dundee legend Barry Smith appointed assistant manager to Jim Weir at Forfar". Evening Telegraph. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  20. "Jim Weir resigns due to personal reasons". BBC. 3 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  21. Nicolson, Eric (16 November 2019). "Exclusive: Barry Smith is back at Dundee". The Courier. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  22. "Dumbarton Football Club - NEW ASSISTANT APPOINTED". www.dumbartonfootballclub.com. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  23. Barry Smith management career statistics at Soccerbase
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