Profile

“Mad” Arthur Smith, so nick-named because of his forceful and enthusiastic performances on the field of play, was a West Country man who played his first Rugby with the Yorkley and Cinderford clubs before becoming an Oldham player at the start of the 1905-06 season.

A robust and energetic forward, his style was well suited to the more fluent Northern Union game and he was soon amongst the honours, picking up a Lancashire Cup winners medal after scoring a try in the 1907 final victory over Broughton Rangers. Lancashire county honours followed and he was selected for what is now regarded as the first ever “test rated” international against the New Zealand “All Golds” on January 25th, 1908, retaining his place for the full series. The following season he again played in the full series against the first “Kangaroos”, accompanied in the British pack by Oldham team mate, Billy Longworth.

Arthur gave eight and half years of great service to Oldham before moving on to Halifax in January 1914. He did return to play a few more matches for the club in the non-competitive First World War period.