Tommy Smith dies

It's on the football forum. Terrible news. Those like me who saw him play are privileged to have done so. A hard man yet skilful and creative. A very sad loss.

i beat it by a minute, Bonnie
he was before my time Bonnie & i am no football fan; my dad is upset though

Your dad's feelings are completely understandable, Baphornet. Tommy was a legend when the word meant something. I'm upset too. Very sad day.

RIP grew up watching the likes of Tommy,Chopper Harris,Norman bites your legs Hunterand others
How would the likes of these be aloud to play today, you only have to touch a player and it's a penalty

i've just invited my dad up for Sunday lunch; i'm sure he will reminisce some with me, Bonnie

my dad told me once how 'Chopper' scared the hell out of Alan Ball on the pitch; & proceeded to giggle all game, wit_ham

from a era where a tackle was a tackle R.I.P tommy

Well said, wit-ham.

Baphornet - well done. I'm sure your dad will want to regale you with stories from that time.

You might like to take a look at Yoooo Tube and find some clips of Tommy Smith. There are some excellent ones.

By God, he was a hard man, though several other well known players were too. wit-ham rightly mentions Chopper Harris and Norman Hunter. Peter Storey of Arsenal comes to mind too. It makes me laugh today to think of some of the current players coming up against the likes of Tommy Smith. I don't think Luis Suarez would have tried to bite him. If he had, retribution would have painful, ugly but very effective.

i will dig some stuff out for him, Bonnie; & i'm sure the port will flow

Dave McKay a shocking ommission

screaming ...yes mckay was right up there with the hardest of them

Big lump, played for Hull, Billy Hamilton? He was a hard  nut, Terry Hurlock, like a cement bag on legs, oh, and Darren Anderton

Ardiles, Villa and Hoddle reminisce about the Argentinians' early games for Spurs:

A League Cup match at the old Vetch Field against Swansea City followed a week later. 'Tommy Smith's playing for Swansea and he's near the end of his career,' says Hoddle. Ossie had a little bit of English by now, so we're saying, "Ossie! Ossie! Tommy Smith. No4. Bad man, tackle". And Ossie was, 'Ah, no problem. Hard men in Argentina. Daniel Passarella'. I remember him saying that. And we're all going, "Yeah, but this is different".'

Ardiles interjects. 'I wish I had been better at English at the time so I could understand...' Hoddle adds: 'So 20 minutes into the game, Ossie's going past me on a stretcher and I remember Johnny Pratt shouting, "Ossie! Tommy Smith! Yeah? Bad man".'

RIP

what an excellent tale from SFBTW i will be reminiscing that on Sunday

terry hurlock millwall hardman midfielder , story was  he was with the england squad in holland or some other euro country in a nightclub  musta been a gay club ,a bloke walked up to him and asked him if he would like to dance , to which hurlock replied "i will dance all over your fookin head if you dont fook off " think the bloke took the hint

Yep, Tommy had a face like a welders bench but he was a great Captain. RIP.