Peter Smith | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
OVERALL STATISTICS | |||||||
| BIRTH | AGE | SIGNED ON | FROM | ||||
| DEBUT | LAST MATCH | LEFT | |||||
| CAREER | APPEARANCES (SUBS) | ||||||
| TRIES | GOALS | DGOALS | PTS | ||||
Biography of Peter Smith | ||||
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 HERITAGE NO : 478 Peter Smith by SHS A doughty hooker, who could also operate anywhere in the forwards, Peter Smith joined Saints from a short sojourn at neighbours St. Helens Recs, where he played just one First Team game against Oldham. Perhaps the competition was too strong for him, with Bunny Lewington and Fred Howard in the picture at City Road, that helped to facilitate his move to Knowsley Road. His debut was at home against Batley, a game famous for the disintegration of a number of playing jerseys during the eighty minutes. The Reporter takes up the story 'The most memorable feature of the game was the loss of jerseys. St. Helens, with commendable economy played in old training jerseys and in the case of the game Smith had two torn, Dullard 2, Bradbury 1, Briscoe 1 and Thompson 1, with minor tears in other players jerseys. Torsos were the order of the day and young Thompson, changing a torn jersey in the middle of the field had the ball suddenly booted to him. He dropped his new clean jersey in the mud and ran to the ball, his torso blushing pink in the limelight and saved the danger and then modestly returned to put on his raiment.' Our man Smith did come out of his debut with praise too and seemed quite lively in the loose. He went on to play for the Saints up to the outbreak of the second World War and during the War Emergency League itself. This included the first match of the New Zealand tour in 1939 at Knowsley Road, which ended after the next fixture at Dewsbury. Peter was a good footballer, with excellent handling skills and in a stormy game against Leigh at Knowsley Road in April 1938, Peter scored a try himself early on and later made a try for the legendary Alf Ellaby. According to the St. Helens Reporter 'Powell took a pass for Butler and cut clean through down the middle, feeding P. Smith, who cut out Twist to feed Ellaby, the winger coming inside to streak to the posts for a try.' Indeed, in the rugby league gossip columns, Peter Smith was revealed as a well-known local swimmer and one of the stars of the Coronation Club. In 1921 Peter lived in Albion Street, St Helens with his parents and brother. His father, a local man named Jonathan, was a miner at the St Helens Ravenhead Colliery and on strike when in June 1921. Peter passed away at the age of 50 in September 1966 and was a popular coach proprietor in St. Helens. Many thanks to Mandy Smith, the granddaughter of Peter, for the lovely photo of Peter in his Coronation Club swimming costume. | ||||
PLAYER HONOURS | ||||
SEASON STATISTICS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season (Official Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
| 1937~38 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 1938~39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 1939~40 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| TOTALS: | 4 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| Season (Other Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
| TOTALS: | ||||
ALL MATCHES | ||||
| Date | Match | Pos | Opponents | Comp | Venue | FT | FTO | T | G | DG | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd Apr 1938 | 1 | W |
10 | Batley | L | H | 15 | 9 | VIEW | |||
| 13th Apr 1938 | 2 | L |
8 | Barrow | L | A | 13 | 29 | VIEW | |||
| 18th Apr 1938 | 3 | W |
10 | Leigh | L | H | 15 | 3 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 30th Apr 1938 | 4 | W |
10 | Rochdale Hornets | L | H | 36 | 13 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 27th Aug 1938 | 5 | L |
12 | Widnes | L | A | 0 | 29 | VIEW | |||
| 3rd Sep 1938 | 6 | L |
12 | Widnes | L | H | 6 | 11 | VIEW | |||
| 26th Dec 1938 | 7 | L |
11 | St. Helens Recs | L | H | 4 | 5 | VIEW | |||
| 21st Jan 1939 | 8 | L |
9 | Salford | L | H | 5 | 32 | VIEW | |||
| 25th Mar 1939 | 9 | L |
9 | Oldham | L | A | 0 | 2 | VIEW | |||
| 7th Apr 1939 | 10 | L |
10 | Wigan | L | A | 2 | 6 | VIEW | |||
| 26th Aug 1939 | 11 | W |
9 | Leigh | L | A | 23 | 3 | VIEW | |||
| 29th Aug 1939 | 12 | W |
9 | Swinton | L | H | 13 | 0 | VIEW | |||
| 2nd Sep 1939 | 13 | L |
9 | New Zealand | Tour | H | 3 | 19 | VIEW | |||
| 29th Sep 1939 | 14 | W |
9 | Rochdale Hornets | WEL | H | 28 | 9 | 2 | VIEW | ||
| 7th Oct 1939 | 15 | W |
9 | Liverpool Stanley | WEL | A | 20 | 0 | VIEW | |||
| 14th Oct 1939 | 16 | W |
9 | Warrington | WEL | H | 13 | 9 | VIEW | |||
| 21st Oct 1939 | 17 | L |
9 | Swinton | WEL | A | 2 | 41 | VIEW | |||
| 28th Oct 1939 | 18 | W |
9 | Swinton | WEL | H | 15 | 7 | VIEW | |||
| 4th Nov 1939 | 19 | W |
9 | Broughton Rangers | WEL | H | 28 | 10 | VIEW |
| *Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub. |
| WINS : 10 | LOSSES : 9 | DRAWS : |
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