But Smith's failure to make a major impact in Europe - the finest moment probably being the home-and-away defeat of Leeds United in 1992, later missing out on a Champions League final place by one point - led to the clamour for something new.
Those weren't lazily phoned in or sent via SMS, either; you had to write out your selections (the 0055 number came later) and post them.
He only admitted the murder of Roy Tutill more than 30 years later when he was caught drink-driving in 1999 and his DNA matched that of a sample found on the dead boy's trousers.
Two years later, he was at it again.
He fled Paris on a bicycle during the Nazi Occupation and, after a stint in the French Resistance, later found himself by chance serving as an air force photographer in France's Indo-China war in the early 1950s, travelling through Vietnam and then Cambodia, completely self-taught.
Despite relegation, the West Sussex club were keen for Saunders to remain as manager and talks were planned with the Crawley chief executive, Michael Dunford, for later this week.
And yet, in the 1970s, Thistle were only narrowly defeated on a vote for Scottish League membership in their own right by Ferranti, later Meadowbank, Thistle.
He became the general manager that summer – a promotion according to the Hugh McIlvanney article reproduced below – and then returned to manage the team 18 months later.
The 1985 Bears were bona fide pop cultural icons – punky QB Jim McMahon would join the show later that season ahead of Super Bowl while Walter Payton and Mike Ditka also made appearances – yet none came with the fanfare of Chicago's 335lb defensive tackle and occasional short-yardage runner.
Five minutes later, the phone rang again.
He died a few months later.
