| Elijah Smith | |
| Fullname: | Elijah Smith |
| Birth Date: | 1860 |
| Birth Place: | Stoke-upon-Trent, England |
| Death Date: | circa 1935[1] |
| Position: | Half back |
| Years1: | 1882–1883 |
| Clubs1: | Tunstall |
| Years2: | 1883–1890 |
| Clubs2: | Stoke |
| Caps2: | 25 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Years3: | 1890 |
Elijah Smith (1860 – circa 1935) was an English footballer who played for in the Football League for Stoke.[2]
Smith played for local side Tunstall before joining Stoke in 1883.[2] Smith combined being a footballer with his work as a vicar at the local church because of this he was known as 'Father Smith' to his Stoke teammates.[2] He played in the club's first competitive match in the FA Cup against Manchester in a 2–1 defeat. Smith was a member of Stoke team which competed in the first season of the Football League.[2] He made his league debut on 8 September 1888, at wing-half for Stoke in a 2–0 defeat by West Bromwich Albion at the Victoria Ground. Smith made 21 League appearances (out of 22) in the 1888–89 season as Stoke finished bottom of the table.[2] [3] He played a further four matches for Stoke before leaving in 1890 and he joined Wolverhampton based Stafford Road.[2]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Stoke | 1883–84 | — | — | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1884–85 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1885–86 | — | — | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||
| 1886–87 | — | — | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| 1887–88 | — | — | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |||
| 1888–89 | The Football League | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | ||
| 1889–90 | The Football League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 25 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 33 | 0 | |||