Hector Lingwood-Smith had already played two years with South Adelaide and a season with Sturt when he arrived at Victoria Park in 1922.

He played three games in that first season, and managed a further ten the following year. He moved to Tasmania in 1924, where he coached Lefroy and later Newtown. He returned to South Adelaide for three more seasons from 1926-28.

When his playing career ended, he became a member of the South Australian umpires advisory board and later umpires coach in the South Australian Football League.

It led to a stint as the VFA’s umpires coach. He would serve stints as secretary of both the South Melbourne and Richmond Football Clubs in the late 1940s and 1950s.