Martin Smith (footballer)

For other people named Martin Smith, see Martin Smith (disambiguation).

Martin Smith

Personal information
Full name	Martin Geoffrey Smith
Date of birth	13 November 1974 (1974-11-13) (age 37)
Place of birth	Sunderland, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Winger, Striker
Club information
Current club	Kettering Town F.C.
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1992–1999	Sunderland	119	(25)
1999–2000	Sheffield United	26	(10)
2000–2003	Huddersfield Town	80	(29)
2003–2006	Northampton Town	104	(24)
2006–2008	Darlington	37	(5)
2008	Blyth Spartans	2	(0)
2010–	Kettering Town F.C.	1	(0)
National team
1994	England U-21s	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:20, 27 August 2008 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals).

Martin Geoffrey Smith (born 13 November 1974 in Sunderland, England) is a former professional footballer. In his professional career he played for Darlington, Northampton Town, Huddersfield Town, Sheffield United, Sunderland and Blyth Spartans.

At his first club, Sunderland, he was part of two Division One title winning teams which won promotion to the FA Premier League, and while he was at Sunderland he made his only appearance for the England under-21 side on 15 November 1994.^[1]

Many Northampton Town supporters regard Smith as one of the most technically-gifted players ever to represent the club. He memorably scored the winner in a FA Cup 3rd Round replay away at Rotherham in January 2004 giving the Cobblers a 4th round tie at home to Manchester United.

Smith joined Darlington ahead of the 2006-07 season. Sunderland born Smith started his career on Wearside. Dubbed 'The Son of Pele' by Sunderland fans,^[2] he scored twenty-eight times in 107 starts for the North East giants in a seven year spell, moving to Sheffield United (scoring fifteen times in 30 starts for the Blades), before joining Huddersfield Town.

Smith went on to score thirty goals in seventy-five starts, including seventeen during the 2002-03 season as the Terriers were relegated. He signed for Northampton Town from Huddersfield Town on 1 July 2003 after being chased for a few months by their then manager Martin Wilkinson. Smith started as a forward; however in recent seasons he has been used as a midfielder, continuing to regularly find the net for Northampton during their promotion from League Two during the 2005-06 season.

At the end of that season the then Northampton Town manager Colin Calderwood left for Nottingham Forest. Smith enjoyed a good relationship with Calderwood and although new Northampton Town manager John Gorman worked hard to try to keep Smith at the Sixfields Stadium, Darlington (managed at the time by David Hodgson) eventually got their man.

On 19 March 2008, Smith's contract with Darlington was cancelled.^[3] On 29 August 2008 Martin Smith signed for Blue Square North side Blyth Spartans and made his debut the next day in the 3-0 win against Hucknall Town coming on as a late sub.

In August 2010 he signed for Kettering Town F.C. on non-contract terms.^[4]

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ A Love Supreme - The Independent Sunderland Football Club Fanzine
3. ^ Martin Smith leaves Darlington FC - Darlington FC
4. ^ "Kettering Town sign ex-Northampton striker Martin Smith". BBC Sport. 23 August 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/k/kettering_town/8936476.stm. Retrieved 23 August 2010. 

External links

• Martin Smith career stats at Soccerbase

Persondata
Name	Smith, Martin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	13 November 1974
Place of birth	Sunderland, England
Date of death
Place of death