Ryan Craig Matthew Smith (born 10 November 1986) is an English

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 ...

Personal

Smith's father is American, from

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

and his mother is of English heritage, with his grandparents hailing from

Montego Bay Montego Bay is the capital of the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of Saint James Parish, Jamaica, St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth-largest urban area in the country by population, after Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Spanish Town, and Por ...

. He first attended St. Aloysius College secondary school, which was attended by West Ham United midfielder

Joe Cole Joseph John Cole (born 8 November 1981) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger in the Premier League, Ligue 1, League One and United Soccer League. He is regarded as one ...

, before moving on to Highams Park School, where he was a classmate of Jamie O'Hara.

Career

Arsenal

An England youth international, Smith started his career at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. He made his Arsenal debut against

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

on 28 October 2003 at the age of 16. Arsenal won the tie 9–8 on

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

with Smith converting his spot kick. He also managed to start against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

and

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 ...

. All of the six matches in which he played for Arsenal were in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

, including a game on 9 November 2004 against Everton which saw him go off injured after 20 minutes.

Leicester City

On 30 September 2005, Smith was signed by

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

on loan for the whole of the 2005–06 season. He scored his first career goal in a 4–2 win over

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

. He returned to Arsenal on 10 March 2006.

Derby County

On 4 August 2006, Smith agreed personal terms on a 3-year contract with Championship outfit

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

. He made his debut in a 2–2 draw against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on 6 August. After struggling to adapt and break into a Derby side pushing for promotion, plus the arrival of several midfielders in the January transfer window, Smith was sold.

Millwall

Smith moved on loan to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

on 21 March 2007 on an initial one-month loan deal, but this was extended on 17 April 2007 to run until the end of the 2006–07 season. Smith impressed during his time on loan at Millwall and manager

Willie Donachie William Donachie (born 5 October 1951) is a Scottish former professional footballer. Donachie had a long playing career, the majority of which was with Manchester City. He also played for Norwich City, Burnley, Oldham Athletic and Portland Timber ...

expressed an interest in retaining the youngster's services. In July 2007 Millwall paid £150,000 for Smith, who signed a two-year contract with the club.

Southampton

On 3 October 2008, he joined

initially on a three-month loan. The transfer became permanent on 1 January 2009, when Smith signed a 6-month contract. He was released by Southampton on 2 May 2009.

Crystal Palace

On 26 August 2009, he signed a contract with

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

. He made his Crystal Palace first team debut on 27 August in the 2–0 League Cup defeat to Manchester City coming on as a substitute in the second half. He left on 25 January 2010 after coming to the end of his short-term contract.

Kansas City Wizards/Sporting KC

On 27 January, Smith joined

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

on trial, playing for The Mariners in a behind the closed doors friendly against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

Blundell Park Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains. The current capacity of the ground is 9, ...

. On 2 February 2010, it was reported that Smith would join

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse and ...

on trial during their preseason training camp in Arizona, and on 2 March he signed a two-year deal with the club. Smith scored on his Kansas City debut in a 4–0 win over

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

. While still under contract to

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

, Smith left in June 2011, eventually trialing in Spain with

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

in July. Kansas City declined to transfer him, however.

Chivas USA

On 21 November 2011, Sporting Kansas City traded Smith's rights to

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. Guada ...

in exchange for two

2012 MLS Supplemental Draft The 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft was a secondary Draft (sports), draft that was held by Major League Soccer via conference call on January 17, 2012. The draft was four rounds and all 19 MLS clubs participated. Changes from 2011 *As an expansion c ...

picks.

Xanthi

Smith signed with

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

club

Skoda Xanthi Xanthi Football Club ( el, Α.Ο. Ξάνθη Π.Α.Ε.) is a Greek professional football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace and plays at Xanthi FC Arena. The club resigned from the Super League 2 due to financial issues. Founded in 1967, Xan ...

on 29 December 2012.

Career statistics

:''(correct as of 30 March 2010)''

References

External links

* * * Official website
www.ryansmith11.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Ryan 1986 births Footballers from Archway, London Living people Men's association football midfielders English men's footballers English people of American descent English sportspeople of Jamaican descent English expatriate men's footballers Arsenal F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Sporting Kansas City players Chivas USA players Xanthi F.C. players English Football League players Major League Soccer players Super League Greece players Black British sportsmen England men's youth international footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Greece English expatriate sportspeople in the United States