Legendarni igralec Liverpoola Tommy Smith je preminil 74. letu starosti, so sporočili iz tega angleškega nogometnega premierligaša. V osemnajst letih nastopanja v Liverpoolu je igral ključno vlogo v prvi zlati dobi te ekipe in je imel vzdevek železo Anfielda, saj je bil steber obrambe ekipe, za katero je odigral 638 tekem.
Eden največjih trenutkov kariere je bil njegov gol, drugi ekipe v finalu evropskega pokala leta 1977 proti Borussii Mönchengladbach. Smith je enkrat nastopil tudi za reprezentanco Anglije, sicer pa je igral tudi za Tampa Bay Rowdies, Los Angeles Aztecs in Swansea City.
Rojeni Liverpoolčan je z ekipo iz svojega mesta osvojil štiri angleške naslove, evropski pokal in dvakrat pokal Uefe.
Alzheimerjevo bolezen so mu odkrili leta 2014, že leta 2007 pa je doživel srčni napad.
Very sad to hear of the passing of another player I watched in the 60s & 70s. Tommy Smith the legendary enforcer of Liverpool FC. A fearsome competitor who was adored by the Liverpool fans & was at the heart of all of their successes in that era pic.twitter.com/dSZ9fVnlvb
— Gary Lawrence (@garythegooner56) April 12, 2019
Sad to learn of death of Anfield iron man Tommy Smith. Watched him almost every week and was there when he headed in that goal in Rome to bring the European Cup to Liverpool for the first time. pic.twitter.com/HugUlSnow7
— David Wooding (@DavidWooding) April 12, 2019
RIP #TheAnfieldIron Tommy Smith lived the dream of playing for our great club. One my Dad’s favourite players. pic.twitter.com/phFQjOaK0K
— David Hughes (@EGHjustice96) April 13, 2019
