Career
In 2006 Latvian Football Federation selected Smirnovs as one of the 11 greatest football players in the first 100 years of football in Latvia. Smirnovs came from Leningrad where he played football with a local factory club In 1957 Smirnovs was sent to Riga, Latvia for military service.
After just 6 matches that he had played with Dinamo, Vadims Ulbergs from Daugava Rīga offered Smirnovs to join the strongest Latvian club
He made his debut with Daugava in the 1st Soviet league in the 1957 and played with the club until 1971. In his best season in 1960 when Daugava played in the Soviet Top League Smirnovs scored 11 goals and was nominated to the list of the 33 best Soviet football players of the year.
Smirnovs also managed to score three goals in two matches against the legendary Lev Yashin in that year. After the season Smirnovs got offers from several top league squads, but he remained loyal to Daugava.
In 1967 Smirnovs was offered to retire from playing and start management work with Daugava, but he refused and continued playing.
In 1969 when Daugava went on a tourney to England but the players were found carrying contraband money and many of them including Smirnovs and Gunārs Ulmanis - the club veterans and leaders were disqualified. Later Smirnovs returned to football as a manager with VEF Rīga which he brought to many successful seasons in the Latvian league - winning 5 titles and the two Latvian Cups. With VEF he worked from 1971 to 1992.