Talk:Arthur Smith (footballer, born 1915)

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Oldest living footballer

Other contenders may be Leonardo Navarro, Moleiro (footballer), Josef Orth, Harry Cook (footballer), Ernie Wright (footballer), and Guglielmo Spadini. No Swan So Fine (talk) 12:12, 20 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Hi. It's most likely that Smith is the oldest living professional footballer in the world. Centenarian footballers are often picked up by the media. Several years have passed since Smith was given this unofficial accolade by the press and in that time nobody older has surfaced. As for the list you've given above, here's the extent of my knowledge:

Definitely deceased:

Leonardo Navarro – his page already has him listed in the "2000 deaths" category. I've amended the page to include it in the lede too.
Harry Cook (footballer) – died in Surrey, England in January 1987. I've added a link to the record to his page.
Guglielmo Spadini – there is an annual Swiss centenarian report produced. His name is not only missing from it, the oldest person on it, Alfred Ziegler, is two years younger than Spadini!

Most likely deceased (but lacking definitive proof):

Moleiro (footballer) – only played a single match for Spain. The obscurity of this player has meant they fell off radar. More than likely deceased but with no easy way to access the Spanish records online, there's no quick way of verifying his death.
Ernie Wright (footballer) – 99.999% deceased. If alive he would be a similar age to the oldest man currently living in the UK, who was also born in 1912.
Josef Orth – sadly just fell off radar but deceased. René Llense was widely cited as being the last living player from any pre-WWII World Cup squad – this is generally accepted but ofc, not absolutely certain.

Hope that was of some help to you. Thanks --Jkaharper (talk) 17:34, 20 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Unbelievable response @Jkaharper:, many thanks. You might like to meet the irascible Earl Cochell and the dashing Kenneth McAlpine. I've found a number of table tennis players of advanced age since Mr Smith intrigued me. No Swan So Fine (talk) 23:09, 21 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]