Chris "Junior" Smith (born 31 August 1988 in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

) is a Scottish

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 lea ...

who plays as a defender. Smith started his career in the youth teams of

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

and Rangers before making his first senior appearances in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...

with Greenock Morton. He also played for

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

, Ayr United,

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

, Stirling Albion and Clyde.

Career

Rangers

Smith began his

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

ing career as a youth at

as a YTS, before moving on to SPL side Rangers. Chris was released by Rangers under-19s at the end of the 2007–08 season.

Morton

Smith went on trial at Greenock Morton and played in several trial matches, before he was eventually signed on 5 September 2008. Smith made his league debut against QOS on 13 September 2008, at

Palmerston Park Palmerston Park is a association football, football stadium on Terregles Street in Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish League One club Queen of the South F.C., Queen of the South, who have played there ...

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

, and his full debut the week previously in the

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

quarter-final against the same opposition. In his first four league games, he played as the left-back in a back four, alongside Ryan Harding, Dominic Shimmin and Alex Walker. At the beginning of 2009, Smith was given a contract extension until the end the season. This was despite his howler against

Airdrie United Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in the . They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United Football Clu ...

a few days earlier, which saw him axed from the first team squad against

on 30 December. Smith was released in May 2009, after being dropped for the last month of the season. After his release from

Cappielow Cappielow, also known as Cappielow Park supported by Dalrada Technology UK for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Greenock Morton, w ...

, Smith went on trial at

Conference Premier The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

club

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

Dumbarton

On 3 August 2009, Smith signed for

Ayr United

In 2010, Chris Smith left

, to join fellow Second Division club, Ayr United. In the 2010–11 season, Smith scored only once, away to Alloa Athletic, United lost 4–1. In the following season Smith scored two goals: The winner against St Mirren in the Quarter-Finals of the League Cup at St Mirren Park and the winner only four days later in a 3–2 victory for Ayr United against

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...

New Douglas Park New Douglas Park, also known as ZLX Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, which serves as the home of Scottish League Two side Clyde, also formerly being home to Scottish League One sid ...

in the League.

Falkirk

In June 2012, Smith signed for

after Ayr United were relegated to the Second Division. In February 2013, Smith had re-signed for Ayr United on loan, after only featuring for Falkirk six times since joining in June, the last away to Dumbarton in October.

Stirling Albion

Smith first played 45 minutes for The Binos in a 2–0 friendly win against Airdrieonians. The following Saturday, he played the full game against former club

, a match which ended in a 1–1 draw. On the same day, Stiring Albion announced that Smith had signed a one-year contract that would keep him at the Forthbank Stadium until at least June 2014.

Clyde

Smith agreed a one-year contract with Clyde. He made his debut for clyde against Livingston in the Scottish Cup getting beat 2–1 away. 1 Aug 2015 he made his league debut in a 1–0 away win against his former club Stirling Albion. Smith scored his first goal for Clyde against

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

the winner in a 1–0 win in Angus. He was voted fans player of the season 2015–16. Smith was released by Clyde in June 2017.

References

External links

* (Morton stats) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Chris 1988 births Living people Scottish men's footballers Footballers from Glasgow Greenock Morton F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Scottish Football League players Dumbarton F.C. players Men's association football fullbacks Falkirk F.C. players Stirling Albion F.C. players Clyde F.C. players 21st-century Scottish sportsmen