Friday, August 31, 2012

Ted Smith - a true pioneer of football and an inspiration

Ted Smith, left, coach of Benfica
All of us have important early memories of our lives as football supporters. The noise, the crowds, a particular player, the cold night air, a sense of a special occasion, or the emotions of the people around us.

I was fortunate that my Dad wanted me to watch games from an early age. We'd take in matches at Preston, Blackpool, Blackburn as well as Lancaster City. But he was always keen to take in European nights and that meant a trip to Anfield or the Racecourse at Wrexham. One was a complete write off when a game against Anderlect was swathed in fog, but we particularly enjoyed a 3-0 win over Trabzonspur in about November 1976.

Obviously we never became Liverpool fans. But the root of my Dad's love of European football opens up an extraordinary story of an English football coach who played a vital role in the shape of the game in the 1960s as club competition became more intense and styles collided.

My Grandfather, Stan Taylor, had been a Commando in the war, served his country heroically and was a man of some stature in the community in Lancaster where he moved to be the manager of Woolworths. He became friends with a man called Ted Smith, pictured above, who at the time was the landlord of a pub in Skerton, just over the River Lune from the town centre.

Here's the amazing story. Ted Smith had been a player with Millwall and Crystal Palace. For reasons and circumstances I can't fathom, but am eager to learn more about, he became the coach of Benfica. The foundations of the team he built included the legendary Jose Aguas, the lynchpin of the side that went on to break Real Madrid's dominance of European football in the 1960s. Ted had brought Aguas from Angola to Portugal and the two had a strong bond. I know this because my Dad witnessed their emotional reunion outside the Park Lane Hotel in London in 1962 when Benfica were in town for a European Cup semi final at White Hart Lane against the double winning Spurs side.

Such magical memories, such a proximity to the extraordinary lives of ordinary people has become part of our family folklore, even if I didn't realise it. These exotic influences on my Dad's life - a trip to London, seeing the greatest club side in the world at the time, meeting such legends. These things weren't accessible or easy to find back then. They shouldn't be now, either, but somehow television makes them rather less mysterious. That memory, those moments, encouraged my Dad to seek out such experiences for me. Maybe that what was also behind the first Subbuteo sets he got me, Juventus and Ajax - after the 1971 final.

I notice that Google puts a previous post by me about Ted Smith fairly high on the search criteria. I've been contacted since by Ted's son Harvey, and by a bloke writing a Millwall A-Z. Beyond that the trail is cold - I've found newspaper cuttings from Lancaster that rather coldly reports how "Mr Ted Smith, the former Benfica coach," became the manager of Lancaster City FC in 1967, as if that achievement was on a par with Barrow or Bamber Bridge. But what more can we celebrate and know of these pioneers, these adventurers who saw football as a route to a new life and amazing experiences that shape our culture today. People laud Terry Venables for what he did at Barcelona, but surely this was greater?

Harvey has told me via email that his father passed away in 1993 and is buried in Lisbon, where Benfica looked after him in his final years, respect and love from a fine club who remembered a hero of their history.

7 comments:

a.m. said...

Ted Smith has been one of our greates coaches. I´m fan of Benfica and have a great respect for him and what he did for our club.
When he arrived at Benfica in 1948 he managed the team and was the one behind it to break the dominance of Sporting, by winning the 1949 Cup. He gave us the 1951 championship, added 2 more Cups and our first international title, the Taca Latina, the ancestor of the ECC. After skiping his job as coach, he kept linked to us as youth coach.
I never met him, but have the true feeling of him being a Person that brought our club fwd and implemented new training methods etc to the team. I think he set the seed for our glorious years that peaked in 61 and 62.
He is one of the persons that left their marks within the club.

a.m. said...

Ted Smith has been one of our greates coaches. I´m fan of Benfica and have a great respect for him and what he did for our club.
When he arrived at Benfica in 1948 he managed the team and was the one behind it to break the dominance of Sporting, by winning the 1949 Cup. He gave us the 1951 championship, added 2 more Cups and our first international title, the Taca Latina, the ancestor of the ECC. After skiping his job as coach, he kept linked to us as youth coach.
I never met him, but have the true feeling of him being a Person that brought our club fwd and implemented new training methods etc to the team. I think he set the seed for our glorious years that peaked in 61 and 62.
He is one of the persons that left their marks within the club.

Paul said...

I know Ted Smith's daughter still lives in Lancaster, in the old people's flats on St.Chads, have spoke to her a few times, always happy to talk about her Dad, pick her up in my Taxi from time to time

Michael Taylor said...

Cheers Paul. Give her my best. I have been in touch with his son Harvey, and they seem like a lovely family.

Zawar kanju said...
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Zawar kanju said...
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Anonymous said...

Great story. Wife was clearing the loft out and came across a Man U v Benfica programme given to me by Ted Smith. Ted lived next door to me when I was in my late teens and we hit it off because of my love for the game. At the time he was starting a league up in the azures and so he was back and forth travelling between Portugal and sunny Leeds. I remember Ted as a lovely kind man, I’d just past my driving test and he gave my dad the keys to his car while he was away so I could use my dads. kevinjmoore3@me.com