Sport: Soccer
Born: March 29, 1951
Towns: Trenton & Hamilton, New Jersey
Robert Smith was born March 29, 1951 in Trenton, NJ. He grew up in Trenton and Hamilton Township, distinguishing himself in a number of sports, including soccer. He attended Steinert High in Hamilton, where he was a schoolmate of future Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. Bobby was a dominant midfielder for the Spartans. Fast and physical, he was know for his hard fouls.
Bobby continued his soccer career at nearby Rider College, where he distinguished himself as one of the nation’s top two-way players. He played suffocating defense while setting school records with 18 goals in a season and 46 in his four-year career. He was the MAC Player of the Year as a junior and senior.
After graduation in 1973, Bobby was drafted by the newly formed Philadelphia Atoms of the North American Soccer League. He also made his first of 18 international appearances for Team USA. With the Atoms, Bobby teamed with goalie Bob Rigby to give the team an airtight last line of defense, allowing just 14 goals. Bobby earned second-team Team All-Star honors as a rookie and helped the Atoms win the NASL championship. The Atoms drew over 10,000 fans a game at a time when most NASL clubs were happy with half that number. Al Miller coached the club and Manfred Schellscheidt, a German national, was their best offensive player. Bobby would later join them in the Soccer Hall of Fame.
Between his second and third NASL seasons, Bobby played for the Irish club Dundalk, one of the country’s top pro teams. He returned to the U.S. in 1975 and was a first-team All-Star. In 1976, the New York Cosmos signed Pele. Part of the Brazilian star’s deal with the team was to surround him with quality players. New York purchased Bobby and Bob Rigby for $100,000. Bobby earned second-team All-Star honors in 1976 and, in three seasons with the Cosmos, won two more NASL Soccer Bowl championships. Although humble and low-key, Bobby had a blast partying with the rock stars who became Cosmos “groupies,” including Rod Stewart and Mick Jagger. Those were glamorous days.
As the Cosmos loaded up on big-name international stars, Bobby became expendable. He was traded to the San Diego Sockers in 1979, and earned All-Star recognition for the fifth time in seven NASL seasons. In 1980, he returned to Philadelphia with the expansion Fury, and also played for the Philadelphia Fever of the Major Indoor Soccer League. He played one more indoor season—for the Montreal Manic—before retiring in 1981 at the age of 30.
After soccer, Bobby bought a tavern near his New Jersey home and named it Smitty’s Kicks. After 12 years he sold the bar and took a position as assistant coach with the Rutgers women’s team. He continued to train young players in the years that followed and, in 2005, established the Bob Smith Soccer Academy in a large indoor facility in Robbinsville. Bobby was honored in 2007 with enshrinement in the National Soccer Hall of Fame.