James Smith (4 January 1877 – 18 August 1948)[1] was an Australian rules footballer who played with and coached St Kilda in the VFL during the early 1900s.

[3] Smith’s football career commenced in 1894 at age 17 with his inclusion in the West Melbourne team and he played with them for several years before moving to St Kilda.

[5] After his first year at St Kilda, Smith applied for a permit to return to West Melbourne but his application was refused.

In 1909 Smith was appointed as coach of St Kilda and he played his final game for them in Round 5 of that season.

[8] As a VFL player, he never got to contest finals football, with St Kilda winning only 19 of the 130 games that he played in.