Len Smith

Who was Len Smith?

Leonard Victor "Len" Smith was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League from 1934 to 1935 and then for the Fitzroy Football Club from 1937 to 1943. Due to service during World War II with the Royal Australian Air Force he missed the 1944 season altogether but returned for a final year in 1945.

Like his younger brother, the legendary Norm Smith, it is as a coach that Len is best remembered. During his first stint as a coach, of the Fitzroy Under 19s, he guided the side to the 1955 Premiership. His first senior coaching role was with Fitzroy, taking them to the finals in 1958 and 1960. He then coached Coburg in the Victorian Football Association for the 1963 season before heading to Richmond. He suffered a heart attack in 1964 and further health concerns saw him relinquish the coaching reins at the Tigers early in 1965. Smith died of a heart attack in 1967.