Geoffrey Smith (14 March 1928 – 19 October 2013) was an English professional footballer who played 253 league games for Bradford City as a goalkeeper, including 200 consecutive appearances.
Smith was born in Cottingley, Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, moved to nearby Keighley with his family before serving in Malaya in the British Army at the end of his teens.
A goalkeeper, he was still playing for Keighley Central in 1948 when he was offered a trial with his local Football League side Bradford City, who were at the time in the Third Division North.
[1] Smith played for Nelson for three years[1] at a time when the club were competing at the top of the Lancashire Combination and sought re-election back into the Football League.
[1] In December 1952, on the advice of Smith's friend Roy Brook, who was in Bradford's second team, new Bradford City manager Ivor Powell invited Smith back to City for another trial and he played for the reserves against Gainsborough Trinity and Notts County.
[1][3] This time, Smith's trial was successful and Bradford City – still a Third Division North side – signed him on amateur forms.
[1][6] He kept 11 clean sheets, which included equalling a club best five in consecutive matches as City won a record nine straight games,[6][7] during which they conceded just one goal.
[1] For the next four seasons, Smith, who became a full-time professional, played every single first-team game for City which eventually led to him making 200 consecutive league appearances[3] – it was a run that coincided with one of 246 league and FA Cup games by full back George Mulholland.
[9] In 1957–58, under Powell's replacement as manager Peter Jackson, City finished in third place but missed out on the title by nine points to Scunthorpe United.
[3] Smith met his wife Margaret at a ceilidh at St Anne's Social Club, in Keighley, in 1944, when they were both teenagers.