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Ken Smales: Cricketer who went on to work behind the scenes as Brian Clough brought glory to Nottingham Forest

Smales was a hugely competent and reassuring presence at the club

Friday 24 April 2015 00:24 BST
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Crowds at the City Ground didn't chant the name of Ken Smales during the phenomenally successful era of Nottingham Forest history presided over by Brian Clough, but his value to the club as the silverware piled up was immense. The Yorkshireman joined the Garibaldi Reds as assistant secretary in 1958, then took over as secretary in 1961, going on to serve Forest for 35 years, including the reign of Clough.

A hugely competent and reassuring presence, Smales was in charge of the paperwork for all the great manager's transfer dealings, including the acquisition of the first £1m footballer, Trevor Francis, in 1979. The triumphs of which he was an administrative part included winning the European Cup in 1979 and 1980, the League championship of 1977-78 and the League Cup in 1978, '79, '89 and '90.

Smales had been a professional cricketer, making 13 senior appearances for Yorkshire between 1948 and 1950, then switching to Nottinghamshire in 1951. During a seven-year sojourn at Trent Bridge he came into his own as an off-break bowler, and is still the only man to take 10 wickets in an innings for the county, with figures of 10-66 against Gloucestershire at Stroud in June 1956. Despite his feat, Nottinghamshire lost by nine wickets in two days, so it must have been an "interesting" wicket.

In his 148 first-team outings he took 367 wickets at an average of 30.46 runs. His best season was 1955, in which he was awarded his county cap and totalled more than 100 wickets for the only time. He batted in the lower order, scoring 2512 at an average of 14.44. A fervent statistician, Smales also wrote the history book Forest: The First 125 Years.

IVAN PONTING

Kenneth Smales, cricketer and football administrator: born Horsforth, Leeds 15 September 1927; died 10 March 2015.

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