transfer to York in May 1982. He said that if he had been offered a coaching role at Stoke he would have stayed, but that Barker wanted him gone as he saw him as a threat to his position. In total, Smith made 493 appearances for Stoke, a club record for a centre-back. Style of play During Smith's 14 seasons with Stoke, he became known for his fearless mentality which led to him sustaining a large number of injuries. These included five broken legs, breaking his nose four times, a cracked ankle, broken collar bone, chipped spine, breaking most of his fingers and toes and needing more than 200 stitches. The sequence saw him named in the Guinness Book of Records as the most injured man in football. Early into his career Smith soon developed a reputation as a "hard player", who would launch himself at opponents determined to either block a shot and win the ball, which is how he picked up most of his injuries. He was known as Stoke's "hitman", and relished going toe to toe with the biggest and most feared opposition players. He would generally man-mark the opposition's playmaker or major goalscoring threat. He was a highly effective tackler, able to either flatten opposition players or to quickly take the ball off their toes. After the tackle from behind was outlawed he adapted to the rule change by making hard challenges from the side. Manager Tony Waddington said that "His qualities were his tackling strength and his courage. On the ball he just did what he could do, but he also had a tremendous ability to read the game." Managerial career York City He moved into management with York as player-manager ahead of 1982–83, accepting the position on 12 May 1982. He described the set up at Bootham Crescent on his arrival as a "shambles", as training consisted entirely of running and was devoid of any actual coaching. He signed veteran players Roger Jones (goalkeeper), Alan Hay (defender) and Ricky Sbragia (defender), as well as young Stoke defender Chris Evans, which including Smith himself meant a complete change in the club's back line. He brought in striker Viv Busby as a player-coach. He then made 26-year-old striker Keith Walwyn his priority, and encouraged Walwyn to use his natural physical presence to become a greater threat in front of goal and unlock his potential. Smith retired