Ross Smith (born November 4, 1980) is a former Canadian soccer player and current broadcaster for the Portland Timbers, one of his former teams. Smith last played for Conference National side

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the club competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1946 fr ...

Career

Youth and college

Smith attended E.C. Drury High School in

Milton, Ontario Milton ( 2016 census population 110,128) is a town in Southern Ontario, Canada, and part of the Halton Region in the Greater Toronto Area. Between 2001 and 2011, Milton was the fastest growing municipality in Canada, with a 71.4% increase in popu ...

, and played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United K ...

at the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Isla ...

. He was named to the Verizon Academic all-District One team, earned third-team All-New England honors, and was also a first-team all-Atlantic 10 performer as a junior in 2001.

Professional

Smith moved across to the UK where he played with Montrose. Smith signed for

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

based

Margate Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significan ...

, playing a season there before being spotted and moving on to Gravesend & Northfleet playing in the English Conference National. At the end of the 2006–07 season, Smith was out of contract and was considering a new contract offer from Ebbsfleet United and also interest from

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...

, when he had an offer to join Dagenham & Redbridge in

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 ...

, who he eventually signed for in the summer of 2007. Smith signed with the

Rochester Rhinos Rochester New York FC, formerly known as the Rochester Rhinos, are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, they changed their name to Rochester Rhinos t ...

of the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system ...

on June 18, 2008. He was reported not be eligible to play with the club until July 15, but was cleared by the authorities for his USL debut July 5, 2008, against the

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

. On February 27, 2009, it was revealed that Smith's doctors detected a faulty heart valve which caused him to suffer an enlarging of his

aorta The aorta ( ) is the main and largest artery in the human body, originating from the left ventricle of the heart and extending down to the abdomen, where it splits into two smaller arteries (the common iliac arteries). The aorta distributes o ...

, and as a result would require heart surgery, and would likely miss the entire 2009 USL1 season. Smith signed for the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, lat ...

of the

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

in January 2009, however the contract was terminated once doctors detected a problem with his heart, and he was forced to retire. Smith re-signed for Ebbsfleet United (previously known as Gravesend & Northfleet) in November 2009, after having surgery and being told by doctors it was safe to play again. In December, he said he was planning to leave Ebbsfleet to return to the United States. On February 15, 2010, Smith signed with Portland Timbers.
/ref> Following the season, and with the Timbers move to Major League Soccer, Smith ended his playing career, and on March 10, 2011 he was named as a radio analyst for Timbers home matches. On January 27, 2012, Smith resumed his playing career and signed with Ebbsfleet United for a third spell with the

club. That ended in 2013 and since then he has been a TV analyst for all Timbers matches broadcast locally.

Personal life

Although born in Canada, both Smith's parents are Scottish-born giving him dual British and Canadian citizenship.

References

External links

Rhode Island bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Ross 1980 births Association football defenders Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate soccer players Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian soccer players Colorado Rapids players National League (English football) players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in England Living people Margate F.C. players Sportspeople from Guelph Portland Timbers (2001–2010) players Capital FC players Rochester New York FC players Soccer people from Ontario USL First Division players USL League Two players USSF Division 2 Professional League players Rhode Island Rams men's soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England