Chris "Junior" Smith (born 31 August 1988 in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

) is a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a defender. Smith started his career in the youth teams of

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

and

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

before making his first senior appearances in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

with

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greeno ...

. He also played for Dumbarton, Ayr United,

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...

and Clyde.

Career

Rangers

Smith began his

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

ing career as a youth at

as a YTS, before moving on to

SPL SPL may refer to: Association football * Saudi Professional League * Scottish Premier League * SportPesa Premier League, Kenya * Singapore Premier League * RoboCup Standard Platform League, matches between autonomous robots Computing Program ...

side

. Chris was released by Rangers under-19s at the end of the 2007–08 season.

Morton

Smith went on trial at

and played in several trial matches, before he was eventually signed on 5 September 2008. Smith made his league debut against QOS on 13 September 2008, at Palmerston Park,

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

, and his full debut the week previously in the

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

quarter-final against the same opposition. In his first four league games, he played as the left-back in a back four, alongside

Ryan Harding Ryan Harding (born 27 April 1984 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish semi-professional footballer who plays for Civil Service Strollers as a defender. Over the course of his career he played for Livingston, Greenock Morton and East Stirlingshire be ...

Dominic Shimmin Dominic Edward Shimmin (born 13 October 1987, in Bermondsey) is an English former footballer. In his career, he has also played for Arsenal, Queens Park Rangers, AFC Bournemouth and Crawley Town. Shimmin mainly plays as a centre half. Career ...

and Alex Walker. At the beginning of 2009, Smith was given a contract extension until the end the season. This was despite his howler against

Airdrie United Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

a few days earlier, which saw him axed from the first team squad against

on 30 December. Smith was released in May 2009, after being dropped for the last month of the season. After his release from

Cappielow Cappielow, also known as Cappielow Park supported by Dalrada Technology UK for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Greenock Morton, w ...

, Smith went on trial at

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

club

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

Dumbarton

On 3 August 2009, Smith signed for Dumbarton.

Ayr United

In 2010, Chris Smith left Dumbarton, to join fellow

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club, Ayr United. In the 2010–11 season, Smith scored only once, away to

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a ...

, United lost 4–1. In the following season Smith scored two goals: The winner against St Mirren in the Quarter-Finals of the League Cup at St Mirren Park and the winner only four days later in a 3–2 victory for Ayr United against Hamilton Academical at New Douglas Park in the

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

Falkirk

In June 2012, Smith signed for

after Ayr United were relegated to the Second Division. In February 2013, Smith had re-signed for Ayr United on loan, after only featuring for Falkirk six times since joining in June, the last away to Dumbarton in October.

Stirling Albion

Smith first played 45 minutes for The Binos in a 2–0 friendly win against

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

. The following Saturday, he played the full game against former club

, a match which ended in a 1–1 draw. On the same day, Stiring Albion announced that Smith had signed a one-year contract that would keep him at the

Forthbank Stadium Forthbank Stadium is a football stadium in Stirling, Scotland. Opened in 1993, it has been the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Stirling Albion since then. Since 2013 it has also hosted the first team matches of Lowland ...

until at least June 2014.

Clyde

Smith agreed a one-year contract with Clyde. He made his debut for clyde against

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

in the Scottish Cup getting beat 2–1 away. 1 Aug 2015 he made his league debut in a 1–0 away win against his former club

. Smith scored his first goal for Clyde against

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. The ...

the winner in a 1–0 win in Angus. He was voted fans player of the season 2015–16. Smith was released by Clyde in June 2017.

References

External links

* (Morton stats) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Chris 1988 births Living people Scottish men's footballers Footballers from Glasgow Greenock Morton F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Scottish Football League players Dumbarton F.C. players Men's association football fullbacks Falkirk F.C. players Stirling Albion F.C. players Clyde F.C. players