Roger Smee
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Roger Guy Smee[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 14 August 1948 | ||
| Place of birth | Reading, England | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Chelsea | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1966–1967 | Chelsea | 0 | (0) |
| 1967–1970 | Reading | 50 | (16) |
| 1970 | → Chelmsford City (loan) | ||
| 1970 | Hillingdon Borough | ||
| 1970–1972 | Hereford United | ||
| 1972–1973 | VG Oostende | ||
| 1973–1974 | Reading | 9 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Roger Guy Smee MBE (born 14 August 1948) is an English former footballer who played as a forward.
Career
[edit]In January 1967, Reading signed Smee from Chelsea, where he had played in the youth set-up. On 3 March 1967, Smee scored on his Reading debut in a 2–0 win against Shrewsbury Town. Smee scored nine goals in 15 appearances in the 1966–67 season following his transfer. Following suffering a broken leg, Smee was deemed surplus to requirements by manager Jack Mansell and dropped down to non-League football, firstly being loaned to Chelmsford City, before signing for Hillingdon Borough and Hereford United.[2][3]
In 1972, Smee signed for Belgian club VG Oostende, before moving back to Reading, where he made nine further Football League appearances, scoring once.[1]
Post-playing career
[edit]Following his playing career, Smee moved into business. In May 1983, Oxford United chairman Robert Maxwell announced his intention to acquire a majority shareholding in Reading and merge Reading and Oxford into a club named Thames Valley Royals. Smee and Reading director Roy Tranter opposed such a merger and stopped Maxwell's plans following a boardroom vote at Reading between the Maxwell merger offer and a rival bid headed by Smee. In July 1983, Smee became chairman of Reading. During Smee's time as chairman, Reading reached Wembley for the first time, winning the 1988 Full Members' Cup Final as well as gaining promotion from the Fourth Division in 1983–84, winning the Third Division in 1985–86 and achieving the club's highest finish in 1987. In 1990, Smee was replaced as Reading chairman by John Madejski, as a result of the early 1990s recession.[3][4]
In 2013, Smee was awarded an MBE for his work with young people in Berkshire.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Roger Smee". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
- ^ "Player search". English National Player Archive. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
- ^ a b "Roger Smee". Reading FC Former Players Association. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
- ^ "STAR's Reading FC Hall of Fame". STAR Reading. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
- ^ "Roger Smee". Get Reading. 8 June 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  | This biographical article related to association football in England, about a forward born in the 1940s, is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1948 births
- Living people
- Men's association football forwards
- English men's footballers
- English businesspeople
- English football chairmen and investors
- Chairmen of Reading F.C.
- Footballers from Reading, Berkshire
- Members of the Order of the British Empire
- Chelsea F.C. players
- Reading F.C. players
- Chelmsford City F.C. players
- Hillingdon Borough F.C. players
- Hereford United F.C. players
- K.V. Oostende players
- Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium
- English expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
- English Football League players
- English football forward, 1940s birth stubs