Nigel Paul Smith (born 3 January 1958) is an English former 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 as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

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

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 Cambridge United.

Club career

Early years

Smith began his career with hometown club

Banstead Athletic Banstead Athletic Football Club is a association football, football club based in Tadworth, near Epsom in Surrey, England. The club are currently members of the and play at Merland Rise. They are affiliated to the Surrey County Football Associa ...

, before moving to the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

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 Queens Park Rangers, for which he made 20 appearances.

Brentford

In March 1975, Smith transferred to

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

club

and was as a regular in the team during the 1975–76 and 1976–77 seasons. After the appointment of Bill Dodgin, Smith fell out of favour and made just a handful of appearances during the 1977–78 promotion-winning season. Smith had his contract cancelled and departed the Bees in October 1978, after making 96 appearances for the club.

Cambridge United

Smith moved up to the

to sign for Cambridge United in November 1978, but made just one substitute appearance for the club.

Non-league football

Smith saw out his career with spells at

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

clubs

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

and

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

International career

During the 1975–76 season, Smith was called up to train with the England U18 squad, but failed to appear in a match. He later represented the England Police team.

Personal life

After retiring from professional football, Smith joined the

Career statistics

References

External links

* 1958 births Living people People from Banstead English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Brentford F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Metropolitan Police F.C. players Banstead Athletic F.C. players English Football League players Isthmian League players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Woking F.C. players Footballers from Surrey {{England-footy-defender-1950s-stub