Susan Jane Smith (born 24 November 1979) is a former English international

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 ...

who last played for

Doncaster Rovers Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an England, English women's association football, women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's admin ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. She is an experienced left–sided winger or forward.

Club career

Smith played for

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

since she was a teenager, but after years of fielding several offers from top clubs around the country, she signed on for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

(known as Leeds Carnegie from 2008 until 2010) in the summer of 2002. Following the failure of Leeds' bid to join the

FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

, Smith signed for Lincoln Ladies in August 2010. In December 2011 Smith joined

, who had tried to sign her on two previous occasions. Belles manager John Buckley described the capture of Smith as "a tremendous coup for the club". Smith scored on her Belles debut in a 2–1 FA Women's Cup win at

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

, but was later carried off with damaged cruciate and medial ligaments. When she was subsequently ruled out for at least nine months, Buckley rued "a disaster for Sue and a disaster for the club." After some injuries she left Doncaster before the 2017 season. She never announced her retirement from football, but has not played since the end of the 2016 season.

International career

Smith made her

debut as a 17–year–old substitute in February 1997, scoring in a 6–4 friendly defeat to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested". History ...

in Preston. One of her brightest England moments was scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

of tremendous goals in a home friendly against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in March 2001. She has twice won the Nationwide International Player of the Year award – in 1999 and 2001. In 1999 she was also voted Players' Player of the Year. Before winning the 1999 awards, Smith represented her country when she was picked to play in a FIFA XI against the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in a showpiece match in San Jose. She made her domestic comeback at the start of the 2002–03 season after suffering a broken leg and torn ligament damage after a training ground accident in February, and after featuring in the series of friendlies in the build-up to Euro 2005, narrowly missed selection in the final 20. Smith bounced back, scoring against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in the first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

qualifier of the campaign, and was twice runner-up in the

FA Women's Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...

with her club

. In May 2009, Smith was one of the first 17 female players to be given central contracts by

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

. In June 2011 she was surprisingly left out of England's

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the even ...

squad.

International goals

:''Scores and results list England's goal tally first.''

Honours

FA Women's Premier League Cup The Women's National League Cup is an annual English football cup competition, founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association (WFA). It was renamed the FA Women's Premier League Cup from 1994 to 2018. The first edition of the Cup includ ...

: 1 :2009–10 *

FA Women's Premier League Northern Division The FA Women's National League Northern Premier Division is a league at the third-level in the women's football league pyramid in England, along with the Southern division. These two divisions are part of the FA Women's National League and bel ...

: 1 :1995–96 *FA Players' Player of the Year Award: 1 :1998–99 *FA International Player of the Year Award: 2 :1998–99, 2000–01

Media career

In 2000, Smith and her Tranmere teammates featured in a television advert for Daz washing powder alongside

Julian Clary Julian Peter McDonald Clary (born 25 May 1959) is an English actor, comedian, novelist and presenter. He began appearing on television in the mid-1980s. Since then he has also acted in films, television and stage productions, numerous pantomim ...

. Smith was later a regular contributor to the

Yorkshire Evening Post The ''Yorkshire Evening Post'' is a daily evening publication (delivered to newsagents every morning) published by Yorkshire Post Newspapers in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The paper provides a regional slant on the day's news, and traditio ...

's women's football section, and also offered her views and commentary skills for BBC sport. Most recently Smith appeared alongside Manchester United's

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while ...

in his three-part

Sky1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

show 'Street Striker'. In July 2009 Smith was awarded an honorary degree by

Edge Hill University Edge Hill University is a campus-based public university in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England, which opened in 1885 as Edge Hill College, the first non-denominational teacher training college for women in England, before admitting its first male st ...

. In November 2010 she opened Chipping Sodbury Secondary School's sports centre. She has also appeared as a co-presenter on ''

EFL on Quest ''EFL on Quest'' was a football highlights programme on the Quest channel in the United Kingdom. The programme covered the English Football League, taking over from Channel 5's '' Football League Tonight''. History Starting from the 2018–1 ...

'', an EFL highlights show on Quest. She currently works as analyst and color commentator for many platforms, often seen in

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

for

Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

games.

Personal life

Throughout her career Smith has been recognisable by her hairstyles.Small Talk: Sue Smith
''The Guardian'', 28 April 2006 She is an Everton F.C. supporter.

References

External links

*
Sue Smith
at The FA website {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Sue 1979 births Living people English women's footballers Alumni of Edge Hill University England women's international footballers Tranmere Rovers L.F.C. players Doncaster Rovers Belles L.F.C. players Leeds United Women F.C. players FA Women's National League players Notts County L.F.C. players Women's Super League players Women's association football wingers Women's association football forwards 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players