Gordon Smith is one of the ten greatest football players ever to play in Scotland.
Anyone who saw him play can count themselves privileged; fans of Hibernian, Heart of Midlothian and Dundee could call him their own, for he won League Championships with them all - but he belonged to every Scot, not just the football fan: my mother told me she went to see him play because he was a handsome man, he was an athlete, he was a gentleman.
Scotland was in awe of Gordon Smith. He was a superstar before the word was invented.
He was a talent when the word had meaning. His death is to be mourned but his life is to be celebrated; in his latter years he had not enjoyed the best health, which was especially cruel on such a gifted and fit man. The tributes already paid to him say enough.
His legacy is that we will remember when football was everyone's game: when football reflected far more than minor parochial concerns: when it was played by men such as Gordon Smith.
Andrew Goldie 7th August 2004
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