Quick Facts
Biography
Alexander "Alex" Smith, MBE (born 25 December 1939), is a Scottish former football player and manager. His major achievements as manager include winning the Scottish Cup in 1987 (with St Mirren) and 1990 (with Aberdeen), and the Scottish League Cup (again with Aberdeen) in 1989. In the 2005 book on Scottish football, The Final Whistle? he was described as "the nearest thing the Scottish game has to a father figure".
Biography
Smith was born in Cowie, a mining village close to Stirling, and played in the same youth team as Billy Bremner. He was best man at Bremner's wedding. His playing career was journeymanlike, and he played for Kilmarnock, Stenhousemuir, Stirling Albion and Albion Rovers.
His managerial career began in 1968 with Stenhousemuir. In 1974, he became manager of Stirling Albion and would manage the club for 12 years, winning the Division Two championship in 1977. Stirling Albion remained in the second tier for four seasons, and were relegated in 1981 after failing to score a league goal for eight months, Smith nonetheless remained at the club until 1986 when he moved to St Mirren, with whom he would win the Scottish Cup in 1987.
Smith and co-manager Jocky Scott succeeded Ian Porterfield at Aberdeen in 1988. For the next three seasons Aberdeen were the premier rivals to Rangers, finishing runners-up in each of those seasons. They would win the double of the League Cup and Scottish Cup in 1990, and in 1991 would go into their final game at Ibrox needing only a draw to win the League championship on goals scored. A 2–0 defeat courtesy of a Mark Hateley double sealed a third straight title for Rangers. They began the next season well, including a 2–0 win at Ibrox, but a slump in form resulted in his dismissal in February 1992.
He would later manage Clyde, Dundee United and Ross County. Smith later worked as technical director at Falkirk. In June 2009 he was appointed assistant to the then head coach Eddie May. In March 2013 he was appointed interim manager at the club following the departure of Steven Pressley.
Smith has been involved with Scotland at a number of levels, managing the Scotland under-18 and under-21 sides. He also took charge of the Scotland B squad in January 2007, alongside Bobby Williamson.
Managerial statistics
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| Stenhousemuir | 1 August 1968 | 1 September 1974 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Stirling | 1 September 1974 | 16 December 1986 | - | - | - | - | - |
| St Mirren | 17 December 1986 | 31 May 1988 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Aberdeen | 1 August 1988 | 10 February 1992 | 178 | 91 | 39 | 48 | 51.12 |
| Clyde | 1 August 1992 | 1 June 1994 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Scotland under-21 | 14 March 2002 | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Dundee United | 8 August 2000 | 7 October 2002 | 99 | 31 | 45 | 23 | 31.31 |
| Ross County | 27 November 2002 | 11 June 2005 | 112 | 39 | 45 | 28 | 34.82 |
| Falkirk (interim) | 8 March 2013 | 3 April 2013 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 60.0 |
Manager
- Stirlingshire Cup : 1970-71
- Stirlingshire Cup : 1976-77, 1977–78, 1983–84
- Scottish League Second Division: 1976–77
- Scottish Cup : 1986–87
- Scottish Cup : 1989–90
- Scottish League Cup : 1989–90
- Aberdeenshire Cup : 1989-90,1990–91
Personal
- SPL Manager of the Month: 3