He lived through Scotland’s golden generation of goalies – and now Graeme Smith wants to play his part in helping to produce the next batch of quality keepers.
The 42-year-old enjoyed a 20-year career between the sticks with the likes of Kilmarnock, Rangers and St Johnstone. But now he’s the SFA’s new goalkeeping guru charged with nurturing our best young talent. In Smith’s time as a player, the trio of Craig Gordon, Allan McGregor and David Marshall emerged and went on to dominate the position for Scotland.
Incredibly, Gordon is still performing at the highest level for Hearts and remains his country’s No.1 aged 42. McGregor hung up his gloves in 2023 after a stellar, trophy-laden career with Rangers, as well as a stint in the Premier League with Hull. Marshall, after breaking through at Celtic in the Champions League, excelled in England and is now Hibs’ new technical performance manager.
The problem for Scotland is who will come in next when Gordon eventually calls it a day? Angus Gunn is already 28 and only took up Steve Clarke’s offer after failing to make the grade with England.
Then there’s Robby McCrorie at Kilmarnock. So highly rated at Ibrox as a kid, he’s finally a first-choice at Rugby Park aged 26. After that? You’re looking at Cieran Slicker, the Oldham-born kid who recently left Manchester City for Ipswich Town in the Premier League, but he’s third pick at Portman Road having been a regular for Scotland Under-21s.
It’s a problem for Clarke at national team level. And Smith, who left Rangers in August to be the SFA’s new goalkeeping performance and coach education manager, wants to help him solve it. He admits there HAS been a gap since Gordon, McGregor and Marshall were in their prime.
But he’s confident that, in time, it can be filled IF young shot-stoppers get the same type of early exposure. In an exclusive interview with MailSport, Smith said: “The three you’ve mentioned were part of my era of goalkeeping.
“There were others at that time but Craigy, Greegs and Marsh were all born in the early 80s, the same as me. I’m a big believer that the reason they were so successful was because they were exposed to first-team football early.
“Those guys’ quality and what they achieved speak for themselves. But a major part of them having lengthy careers at the top – playing 500-plus games and getting over 50 caps for their country – is exposure at an early age.
“It had less to do with academy football and more about them getting out and experiencing first-team level. That exposure to competitive football gives young keepers more of an opportunity to have a lasting career.
“The more games you play, the more decision-making you have to do, the more experience you get. Ultimately, the very best keepers are the ones who experience the most.
“I know it’s natural for goalies to have their debuts later with their parent club at the top level. But I still think we can expose them as much as we can, whether that’s in the SPFL or Lowland League. The quicker we can do that, the more they’ll gain from it.
“In the last few years there has been a bit of a gap after Craig, Allan and David. But hopefully the young guys coming through are the next batch. It’s about finding a balance between the technical side of them learning in their academy and that competitive element of first-team football.”
Smith knows the benefits of that exposure because he got it himself as a youngster at Kilmarnock. Loan stints at Queen’s Park and Stenhousemuir – under two of Scotland’s most ferocious gaffers – were a steep learning curve but that gave him the foundations for a long career. He was a good Killie keeper before going to Rangers as a back-up to McGregor and he was part of their 2008 UEFA Cup Final run.
He later joined St Johnstone and finished up with a five-year spell at Peterhead then Raith Rovers. He returned to Rangers as their academy goalie coach, where he worked alongside McCrorie.
Now he’s at Hampden hoping to pass on all the knowledge and experience he collected under legendary bosses such as Walter Smith and Jim Jeffries. Smith said: “I’m pleased with what I achieved.
“There were better goalkeepers than me who didn’t win anything. So I’m happy to be involved in so many games and to have played professionally 400 times.
“Could I have made different decisions or made different moves to other clubs? Yeah, maybe. But I’m not one for regrets.
“If you’d have told me when I was 14 playing down at the park that I’d play for 19 years and eventually cut my career short to be coach at Rangers, I’d have snapped your hand off. I try to use my own career as a reference when I’m speaking to clubs and young goalkeepers now.
“I’ve been there, done it and got the T-shirt. The stuff they’re exposed to, I’ve experienced it myself. And that has helped shape my own philosophy as a goalkeeping coach.
“I could sit all day and talk about the people who influenced me. Jim Stewart was my goalie coach at different clubs and the likes of Gordon Marshall and Colin Meldrum were important for me.
“They were great characters with huge experience. In terms of managers, I worked with the likes of Jefferies, Smith and Derek McInnes.
“But on my loans as a young boy I went to Queen’s Park when Cowboy McCormack was gaffer. Then at Stenny it was John McVeigh. That was an interesting introduction to proper football!
“But I wouldn’t swap it for the world because it was a great upbringing. I was lucky to go on and work with goalkeepers such as McGregor, Roy Carroll, Neil Alexander and Peter Enckelman, all internationals. I learned so much from them and I’m still learning in this job now.”
It was a tough decision for Smith to leave Auchenhowie, where he felt he’d left Rangers’ academy and B team in a good place on the goalie front. But he’s excited to work with the SFA and the country’s most prodigious young keepers, all through the age groups. Eventually, Smith says he WILL return to club football.
But he admits it’s important to him to play a key role in making sure Clarke’s Scotland team is in safe hands for the future. Smith said: “Just like at Rangers, not every goalkeeper that comes through is going to end up as Scotland’s number one.
“But the satisfaction for me will be looking back in 10 or 15 years’ time and hopefully seeing goalkeepers out there still playing at a high level. If I can play a small part in their development that will give me a great sense of pride.
“In this new role hopefully I can influence clubs and help to nurture and expose their young talent. I want to produce Scotland keepers for the future, that’s the job I’m in. But it’s not just me. It’s about working with the clubs to benefit Scottish goalkeepers – and hopefully the greater good of the game in this country.”