Joseph Smith......................

By the time Joe signed as player / manager for Darwen in 1929 he was 39 years old and a football legend, as a player for Darwen Joe played 51 games scoring 42 goals.
As a manager with Darwen Joe set about building a team that would dominate non league Lancashire football for many years.
Darwen won the Lancashire Combination Championship twice, the Combination cup twice, the Lancashire Junior cup and the Lancashire challenge Trophy in the early 1930's.
Joe was born in Dudley in June 1889 and started his football career with Bolton Wanderers in 1908, after active service in the First World War he rejoined them in 1919.
He became captain of probably the greatest Wanderers team of all time, with Joe at the helm they would win the FA cup three times in the 1920's and finish in the highest position ever for a Wanderers team in the League (third) in the First Division 1920/21 and 1924/25 seasons. Joe still holds the record for goals scored in a season for Bolton (38) in 1920/21. In total he played 492 games for Bolton scoring 277 goals. during his career with the Wanderers Joe was capped many times for England and represented the Football League. Joe later signed for Stockport County in 1927 and scored a remarkable 61 goals in 69 league games.
In 1931 Joe received an offer to manage Reading football club, he took up the offer and left Darwen after a very successful spell with the club. -- 4 years later Joe left Reading to join Blackpool in 1935 and built a team around the great Matthews, Mortensen and Johnston, with this team he would guide Blackpool to their highest ever league position -- runners-up in the first division 1955/56, he also led them to three FA cup finals. losing the first two: 1948 against Man Utd 2-4 and 1951 against Newcastle 0-2, but his greatest achievement as a manager was to come when he led Blackpool to the FA cup final in 1953 against his beloved Bolton, in what was to become the "Matthews final". Blackpool ran out 4-3 winners and Joe joined a small elite group who would win the cup both as player and manager. Joe retired as manager of Blackpool in 1958, after 23 years in the job he became a life member of the club. He died in 1971 aged 82.
To view a 1931 Darwen FC team photo which includes Joe as team captain click Here