Background
Smyth was born in Belfast and played for local clubs Distillery, Linfield and Dundela in the Irish League before being signed by English Football League side Wolverhampton Wanderers in July 1947 for a fee of £1,100.
Smyth was born in Belfast and played for local clubs Distillery, Linfield and Dundela in the Irish League before being signed by English Football League side Wolverhampton Wanderers in July 1947 for a fee of £1,100.
Despite taking Wolves to third place in the 1946-1947 season manager Ted Vizard was replaced by his assistant Stan Cullis in June 1948. The following season Wolves finished in 2nd place in the First Division. He had scored 43 goals in 116 cup and league appearances for Wolves.
In September 1951 Stoke City paid a club record fee of £25,000 to Wolves for Smyth in a bid to help them avoid relegation after an awful start to the 1951-1952 season.
Smyth had the desired impact at the Victoria Ground as he scored 12 vital goals as Stoke escaped the drop by three points. He scored five goals in 14 matches in 1952-1953 before being sold to Liverpool in January 1953 for a fee of £12,000.
Smyth made his debut for his new club against the side he just departed, Stoke just days later. He spent two seasons at Anfield scoring 20 goals in 44 appearances.
Smyth returned to Belfast where he played for Bangor and also worked as a bookmaker.
He Later he opened his own sports shop business.