Graham Smith still has friends from West Brom
Graham Smith seemingly has friends at every football club - and recently Asa Hartford even slept on his sofa.
The former West Brom goalkeeper is now technical director at Sacramento Republic FC, Albion's opponents in their two friendly matches this week.
He played 10 times for the Baggies in the 1972-73 season, helping them to an important 1-0 win against Liverpool, and he was the driving force in organising their American tour.
Originally from Liverpool and an Everton fan, Graham has revealed that he still has a soft spot for the Throstles.
He said: "I always look for the results of the teams I played for every week, and the Albion I even got to see a few games the year before last.
"Roy Hodgson invited me over and I thought he had a decent side. He got them going, he did a terrific job.
"I've got fond memories of West Brom. Ten days ago Asa Hartford was here, he stayed with me here and slept on my couch.
"Asa's still in great nick, scouting for Norwich, it was wonderful to have him here. He came to our game against Arizona, he really enjoyed his time here.
"We were talking about those players that have passed on, those that have had tough times. We heard Bobby Hope had a stroke, Len Cantello can hardly walk now.
"There were good characters at the football club. It's a great football club, there's a lot of story and history."
Graham, who also owns First Wave Sports Marketing which helps to organise football tours, said he would have liked to have stayed with the team as a player but did not feel his manager Don Howe had much confidence in him.
He said: "I could have stayed but the writing was on the wall, I had the chance to move on and play and I wanted to play. West Brom eventually went down.
"I enjoyed my time there and it was nice to be at the top, albeit briefly. They were good days and I'm glad to have been a part of them."
When he did leave the Baggies he moved to Cambridge Utd, where a young Ron Atkinson was in charge, and where an even younger Brandon Batson was playing at right back.
Nowadays he is focused on ensuring Sacramento's first professional soccer team becomes a success, and already they hold the highest crowd attendance record for their league, despite only having been set up last year.
But he will continue to keep in touch with his old friends, and hopes to welcome West Brom back to California in the future.
