Hibs and Leicester say goodbye to the curls and charisma of Bobby Smith

• Bobby Smith in his Hibs heyday, playing in the 1973 Drybrough Cup final, a 1 - 0 win over Celtic

Smith died on Monday night following a short battle with cancer. A cultured, fast and versatile footballer, he is described by team-mates and friends as a warm and jovial man who remained a faithful fan of the Easter Road club until the end.

Having made his debut for the Leith side in 1972, coming on as a substitute in a 3-2 victory over Arbroath, Dalkeith-born Smith went on to star for the club, making 169 starts in the following six years, scoring 27 league and cup goals before signing for Leicester City for 85,000 and playing his first game for the Filbert Street club alongside fellow debutant, a certain Gary Lineker. Smith made an instant impact, scoring in a 2-0 win over Oldham on New Year's Day 1979, while Lineker had to wait for his first Leicester goal.

Smith spent eight years with The Foxes, making exactly 200 appearances, winning the Second Division title in 1980, becoming captain, and scoring 21 goals before a loan spell at Peterborough in 1982. He then returned to Edinburgh for a further spell at Hibs in 1983, then again in the 1986/87 season, adding another 13 starts and one league goal to his tally in his second and third stint. He completed his playing career with spells at Dunfermline in 1987 – winning the First Division title in 1989 – Partick Thistle and Berwick Rangers, eventually retiring from the game in 1991.

"It was impossible to spend any time with him and have a bad word to say about him," said Willie Murray, a former Hibs team-mate and long-time friend.

"We signed around the same time and were pretty close. He was a great bloke to be around, even over the last few weeks when, although he was suffering, he made it very easy for people to be around him. His happy personality was infectious.

• A youthful Smith pictured prior to signing for Hibs in 1971-72

"And he was a great player and had a very tasty left peg. I remember one goal he scored against Rangers at Easter Road, it was just after the restart for the second-half and he drove the ball 35-40 yards and it went in off the underside of the cross bar. Jock Wallace was the manager of Rangers that day and I think that goal was what got him his move to Leicester because when Wallace moved to Leicester he came back and signed Bobby!"

Having made their Leicester debuts on the same day, Smith and Lineker also remained good friends, according to Murray. "Bobby played with some great players and he will be missed by them all. After Bobby came back up here Gary would come up and they would play golf. They both loved golf." And usually they would play for a wee wager. "That's the thing about Bobby, if there were two flies climbing up a wall, he would have a bet on one of them. Only last week he was at the bookies! Although he will be buried in his suit, his lucky pen and bookie slips will be in there with him."

Jim McArthur, another Hibs team-mate during the 70s and throughout his second spell back in Leith, said: "A lot of people will remember his curly-wurly look, that permed hair and the moustache." It was a look which later earned him the affectionate nickname 'The Perminator'.

"He was a memorable guy, but not because of that, because he was such a good player and so chirpy," continued McArthur. "He got to as many Hibs games as he could and, until the end, I visited him and he stayed just the same way, he was great lad. He had some great stories of his own and he loved to hear stories. It couldn't have been easy for him at the end but he put on a brave face."

A penchant for the flair as well as a dogged tenacity, those traits summed up the person as well as the player. "He was the kind of player that Hibs fans like to see," added Paul Kane, who was a young player embarking on his Hibs career when Smith returned following his time in England.

"He always gave 100 per cent but it was more than that, he was a cultured player. He obviously learned a lot during his time in England and he was always keen to pass that on to the young guys like myself, Mickey Weir and John Collins. He was very generous that way and he was Hibs through and through. In recent years he didn't get to as many games because he went to see his son Chris play on Saturdays."

One of a number of former players who attended games and enjoyed the camaraderie with his former colleagues on match days, Smith is described by Kane as a "real people person. You can understand why he went on to be a publican and a taxi driver, he liked to chat and was a great character. It is such a shame. He will always have a place in Hibs' fans' hearts and the hearts of everyone who knew him."

Smith leaves behind his wife Dot and two sons, Murray and Chris.

Hibs ran a full tribute to Smith on their website, and added: "Everyone at Hibernian Football Club wishes to pass on their condolences to Bobby's family and friends", while Leicester City also ran a glowing appreciation on their official website.

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