Gary Stephen Smith (born 30 January 1984) is an English retired professional

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 played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for Milton Keynes Dons,

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

and

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Career

Middlesbrough

, Smith began his career in the academy at hometown

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

and signed his first professional contract in July 2002. While a reserve team player, Smith admitted liability for breaking the leg of

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

midfielder Ben Collett, who was eventually forced to retire from football due to the tackle. Smith failed to win a call into the first team squad before being released at the end of the 2003–04 season.

Milton Keynes Dons (loan and permanent transfer)

On 23 March 2004, Smith joined

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

-based First Division strugglers

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

until the end of the 2003–04 season. The following day, he made the first senior appearance of his career as a 37th-minute substitute for

Albert Jarrett Albert Ojumiri Jarrett (born 23 October 1984) is a Sierra Leonean Association football, footballer who last played for Dulwich Hamlet and has represented the Sierra Leone national football team. Club career Jarrett was born in Freetown to Creo ...

in a 1–0 defeat to Millwall. Smith scored the first senior goal of his career in the following match, with what proved to be a consolation in a 2–1 defeat to

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. He finished the season with 11 appearances and three goals, but despite suffering relegation to League One, Smith signed a three-year contract with the club (now renamed Milton Keynes Dons) on a free transfer in May 2004. Over the course of the 2004–05, 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons and despite being a popular player, Smith found himself in and out of the team and was out of favour with new manager Martin Allen after the Dons' relegation to

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

in 2006. He played no part in the Dons' 2007 Football League play-off campaign, in which the club's hopes of a return to League One were ended in the semi-finals by Shrewsbury Town. Smith was released in May 2007, having made 91 appearances and scored 12 goals in just over three seasons for Wimbledon and Milton Keynes Dons.

Brentford

On 1 August 2007, Smith signed a one-year contract with newly relegated League Two club

on a free transfer. He found it difficult to settle in a turbulent time under new manager Terry Butcher, but after Butcher's sacking in December 2007, his assistant Andy Scott took over and Smith finished the season ever-present in the team. He signed a new 18-month contract in January 2008. He finished the 2007–08 season with 32 appearances and 1 goal, which came with a low-drilled shot in a 2–1 victory over

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

on 12 January 2008. An ankle injury reduced Smith to just four appearances during the 2008–09 season, which was not enough for him to claim a medal as Brentford sealed a return to League One after winning the League Two championship. He was released in May 2009, having made just 36 appearances and scored one goal in two seasons at

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

Darlington

Smith remained in League Two to join

on a free transfer on 1 July 2009. He made 38 appearances and scored one goal in a disastrous season for the Quakers, which resulted in relegation to the

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 ...

, but he signed a new contract to remain with the club. Despite suffering from niggling thigh, knee and ankle injuries, Smith had a good

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season, scoring five goals in 45 appearances and helping the club to a 7th-place finish and the FA Trophy Final. Despite victory versus

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

, Smith suffered an injury to his

cruciate Cruciate, and similar words, can mean: *The cruciate ligaments in the knee *For a magic spell in the Harry Potter scenario, see crucio *Latin and early-English word for crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supporte ...

and medial ligaments on 39 minutes and was substituted for

Aman Verma Aman may refer to:Poli People First names * Aman Hambleton (born 1992), Canadian chess grandmaster * Aman Hayer (born 1979), Bhangra musician * Aman Verma (actor) (born 1971), Indian actor Surnames * Mohammed Aman (born 1994), Ethiopian midd ...

. The club was unable to offer a new contract and he was released at the end of the 2010–11 season, having made 83 appearances and scored 6 goals during two seasons at the

Darlington Arena The Darlington Arena is a rugby union stadium, located in Darlington, County Durham. The arena was opened in the summer of 2003, as the new home ground of Darlington F.C., following the decision to leave their previous ground, Feethams, afte ...

Career statistics

Honours

Darlington *

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Gary Living people 1984 births Footballers from Middlesbrough English footballers Association football midfielders Middlesbrough F.C. players Wimbledon F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Darlington F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players