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Walter Smith
Walter Smith
Personal information
Full name: Walter Ferguson Smith
Date of birth: 24 February 1948(1948-02-24)
Place of birth:    Lanark, Flag of Scotland Scotland
Date of death:    26 October 2021(2021-10-26) (aged 73)
Playing position: Defender
Youth clubs
Flag of Scotland Drumchapel Amateurs
Flag of Scotland Ashfield
Senior clubs
Years Club App (Gls)
1966–1975
1967
1975–1977
1977–1980
Total
Flag of Scotland Dundee United
Flag of ScotlandDallas Tornado (loan)
Flag of Scotland Dumbarton
Flag of Scotland Dundee United
108 00(2)
0000(0)
044 00(0)
026 00(0)
181 00(2)   
Teams managed
1978–1982
1982–1986
1991–1998
1998–2002
2004–2007
2007–2011
Flag of Scotland Scotland U18
Flag of Scotland Scotland U21
Flag of Scotland Rangers
Flag of England Everton
Flag of Scotland Scotland
Flag of Scotland Rangers

Walter Ferguson Smith OBE (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Scottish club Rangers.

A defender, Smith's playing career consisted of two spells with Dundee United, split by a short time at Dumbarton. A pelvic injury caused his retirement from playing and Smith moved into coaching at Dundee United, working for manager Jim McLean. Smith also took charge of the Scotland under-18 and under-21 teams, and assisted Scotland manager Alex Ferguson at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, after it had been announced that he would be moving to Rangers as assistant to Graeme Souness.

Smith became the manager of Rangers in 1991, succeeding Souness. He won 13 major trophies in seven years, including seven league titles in succession. After leaving Rangers at the end of the 1997–98 season, he was appointed manager of English Premier League club Everton. He was in charge at Goodison Park for four seasons before he was sacked in 2002.

After a brief stint as assistant manager to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, Smith was appointed Scotland manager in December 2004. He presided over a revival in their fortunes, taking the national team 70 places up the FIFA World Rankings. After a good start to UEFA Euro 2008 qualification, he resigned as Scotland manager in January 2007 to return to Rangers. He won eight trophies during his second spell as Rangers manager and guided the team to the 2008 UEFA Cup Final, before retiring from management in 2011. Smith is the second-most successful manager in the history of Rangers, behind Bill Struth.

External links[]

Scotland National Team Logo
Flag of Scotland Scotland
Rangers Football Club - Managers

Wilton (1899–1920) • Struth (1920–54) • Symon (1954–67) • White (1967–69) • Thorntonc (1969) • Waddell (1969–72) • Wallace (1972–78) • McLeanc (1978) • Greig (1978–83) • Wallace (1983–86) • Tottenc (1986) • Smithc (1986) • Souness (1986–91) • Smith (1991–98) • Advocaat (1998–2001) • McLeish (2001–06) • Le Guen (2006–07) • Durrantc (2007) • Smith (2007–11) • McCoist (2011–14) • McDowallc (2014–15) • McCallc (2015) • Warburton (2015–17) • Murtyc (2017) • Caixinha (2017) • Murty (2017–18) • Nichollc (2018) • Gerrard (2018–21) • van Bronckhorst (2021–22) • Beale (2022–23) • Davisi (2023) • Clement (2023–)

Everton Football Club - Managers

Barclay (1888–1889) · Molyneux (1889–1901) · Cuff (1901–1918) · Sawyer (1918–1919) · McIntosh (1919–1935) · Kelly (1936–1948) · Britton (1948–1956) · Buchan (1956–1958) · Carey (1958–1961) · Catterick (1961–1973) · Eggleston (1973) · Bingham (1973–1977) · Burtenshaw (1977) · Lee (1977–1981) · Kendall (1981–1987) · Harvey (1987–1990) · Gabriel (1990) · Kendall (1990–1993) · Gabriel (1993–1994) · Walker (1994) · Royle (1994–1997) · Watson (1997) · Kendall (1997–1998) · Smith (1998–2002) · Moyes (2002–2013) · Martínez (2013–2016) · Unsworthc (2016) · Koeman (2016–2017) · Unsworthc (2017) · Allardyce (2017–2018) · Silva (2018–2019) · Fergusonc (2019) · Ancelotti (2019–2021) · Benítez (2021–2022) · Fergusonc (2022) · Lampard (2022–23) · Tait & Bainesc (2023) · Dyche (2023–25) · Moyes (2025–)

Template:Scotland national football team managers

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