Smith was one of the founder members of the Queen's Park club, based in Glasgow. In his "Scottish Football Reminiscences and Sketches" written in 1890, David Bone describes Smith thus:
The least known, perhaps, of the original international men, but one whose name will ever be honoured by many of the older school of players, and locally Queen's Park members, is Mr. James Smith, who died some years ago in London. Mr. Smith was, in conjunction with his brother Robert, early associated with the game in Scotland, and was an original member of the Queen's Park. Mr. Archibald Rae, the first secretary of the Scottish Football Association, and at one time an active member of the Queen's Park, tells an amusing anecdote of Smith, while playing against the Hamilton Club, leaping on the top of a hedge to win a touch-down, which in those days counted a point in the game. This entirely coincided with poor Smith's play, as he was sometimes very impetuous.
By November 1870, Smith had moved to London and, although he retained his membership of Queen's Park, was also a member of South Norwood, for whom he played in the FA Cup. Smith, along with his elder brother Robert, was named amongst 16 selected players in the publicity for the unofficial international match played on 24 February 1872, but neither actually played. In November 1872, the first officially recognised football international was arranged between Scotland and England; unlike the earlier representative matches, all of which had been played at the Kennington Oval in London, this match was played at West of ScotlandCricket Club's ground at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, Glasgow. The match was organised by the Queen's Park club, who decided that only Queen's Park members should be selected. Smith started the match as a half-back. Smith's brother, Robert, played in the match on 30 November 1872 as one of six forwards; thus, he and Robert were the first pair of brothers to play together at international level. Scotland played a 2–2–6 formation while England favoured a more attacking 1–1–8 formation with only two defenders; despite this, the match ended in a 0–0 draw.
Life after football
By profession, Smith was a salesman for artists' supplies. He died, aged 32, at his parents' home at Urquhart in Morayshire on 20 September 1876 from a stroke, after a long illness.
