Pat Smith

Pat Smith (November 10, 1923 – December 7, 2009) was a British-American soccer referee who was one of the founders of the U.S. Soccer national referee program and served as the first president of the National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association.

Officiating career

Collegiate. Smith officiated at the collegiate level for 15 years. While there, he officiated hundreds of collegiate games including six NAIA semifinals, numerous NCAA semifinals, and two NCAA men's finals. When Eddie Pearson began building the national referee program for U.S. Soccer, he naturally recruited Smith (and Bob Evans) to assist with its development.

Contributions Many of the officials who represented U.S. Soccer as International (FIFA) referees credit Smith with their success. Among these officials are Robert (Bob) Evans (also U.S. Soccer's former National Director of Referee Instruction), Edward Bellion, Alfred Kleinatis (also U.S. Soccer's former Manager of Referee Development), Brian Hall (referee) (CONCACAF Director of Referees), Raul Dominguez, and Zimmerman Boulos. In 1998, he was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Patrick Smith Memorial Scholarship A soccer scholarship has been established in his honor.