Paul Smith (born 25 January 1976) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He notably 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 Lincoln City where he made 157 league appearances, scoring 18 goals. He later played at Non-League level for

Ilkeston Town Ilkeston Town Football Club is a football club based in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England. They currently play in the . History On 30 June 2017, a company, Ilkeston Town F.C. Ltd was registered at Companies House. On 20 July 2017, it was conf ...

, Sheffield and

Glapwell Glapwell is a village and civil parish on the A617 road in the Bolsover District of north east Derbyshire, between the towns of Chesterfield (7 miles) and Mansfield (5 miles) and Bolsover (3 miles to the north). With 1,467 residents, increasing ...

Career

A fast and tricky winger, Paul began his career with Hastings Town before being snapped up for £50,000 by Nottingham Forest. He failed to make the first team at Forest and moved to Lincoln City in December 1997. His time at Lincoln City was ended by a back injury which forced his retirement from the professional game. In August 2004, Paul came out of retirement to link up with his old Lincoln City manager

Phil Stant Philip Richard Stant (born 13 October 1962) is an English football manager, former professional footballer and British Army soldier who served in the Falklands War and was attached to the SAS. As a player he was a striker who after serving in ...

who was now in charge of

. However, his back injury continued to trouble him and in January 2005 he once again retired. However, he underwent extensive treatment and was able to resume his career with Ilkeston in August 2005. For the 2006–2007 season, Paul moved on to Sheffield but his injury jinx struct again when he dislocated his shoulder during his debut against

Mickleover Sports Mickleover Football Club is a football club based in the Mickleover suburb of Derby, Derbyshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Station Road. The club were formed as Mickleover Old Boys in 1948, before becoming Mickl ...

and the injury would keep him out for the remainder of the season. In August 2007, Smith moved to

, helping the team to promotion before leaving at the end of the season due to work commitments.

References

External links

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Retires from Ilkeston, Jan 2005Returns to Ilkeston, Aug 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Paul 1976 births Living people Footballers from Hastings English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Nottingham Forest F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Ilkeston Town F.C. (1945) players Sheffield F.C. players Hastings United F.C. players Glapwell F.C. players English Football League players Northern Counties East Football League players