Jeff Smith (footballer, Born 1980)
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Jeffrey Smith (born 28 June 1980) is an English former
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 played as a
midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
. Smith started his career with
Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...
in 1998, but a year later moved on to Barrow, and shortly after
Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham. M ...
. After two years at Bishop Auckland, he was signed by
Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...
. Rarely used by Bolton, he was instead
loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...
ed out to Macclesfield Town,
Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...
,
Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...
, and
Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...
before he signed permanently with Port Vale in 2004. A regular in the first team at Vale, he left after three years to sign with
Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...
. In 2009, he joined
Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...
but only spent one season at the club. In August 2010, he moved to Belgium to play for one season with Olympic Charleroi, before he returned to England with Whitby Town a year later. In July 2012, he joined Celtic Nation.


Career


Early career

Smith spent part of his youth on the books at
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...
, though he was not offered a YTS place. He went on to work at a sports shop after leaving school whilst playing
Sunday League football Sunday league football is a term used in Britain, Ireland and Australia to describe the amateur association football competitions which take place on Sunday rather than the more usual Saturday. The term ''pub league'' may also be used, owing to ...
. He started his professional career at
Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...
in 1998 and featured three times at left-back in the Third Division under Mick Tait and once in the
Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...
under caretaker managers Paul Baker and Brian Honour. However, he fell out of the first-team picture after Chris Turner took charge in February 1999. He left Victoria Park in the summer after an initial one-year contract offer was replaced by a three-month deal. After his release, Smith joined
non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...
team Barrow, but played only one game before moving on to
Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham. M ...
. He worked as a
postman A mail carrier, also referred to as a mailman, mailwoman, mailperson, postal carrier, postman, postwoman, postperson, person of post, letter carrier (in American English), or colloquially postie (in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Unite ...
during his time out of the
Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...
.


Bolton Wanderers

Smith's performances at Bishop Auckland were much improved, and he was hailed as one of the best crossers in non-league football. In March 2001, Smith joined
Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...
club
Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...
on a short
contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...
deal after impressing during a week-long trial. Smith wanted to show Wanderers
manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (born 19 October 1954) is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football League, as well as brief spells in the North ...
that he could make the grade in the Football League. Smith played in the final league match of the 2000–01 season, a 1–1 draw against
Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...
. He signed a new contract following Bolton's
promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
to the
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
. Still, he struggled to get into the first team, playing a few League Cup matches. Smith was
loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...
ed to Macclesfield Town for two months to gain some experience in December 2001 and scored two goals in eight league games. Macclesfield manager David Moss had the initial month-loan loan extended into a second month. He still struggled to get into the first team at Bolton, playing in one Premier League match away to
West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...
, again the last game of the season. In the two following seasons Smith played only a handful of League Cup and
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
matches and was loaned out to
Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...
,
Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...
and
Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...
for brief periods at the back end of the 2003–04 season. During the three loan spells he made a combined total of just two starts and five substitute appearances, with injury also plaguing him. Wanderers released him in the summer.


Port Vale

In June 2004, Smith joined Port Vale on a one-year contract. He was a first-team regular during his first season at the club. Vale offered Smith a new contract, which he accepted. Smith was again in and around the first-team throughout the 2005–06 season, and signed a new one-year deal at the end of the campaign. Smith started the first half of the 2006–07 season very strongly, attracting interest from other clubs.


Carlisle United

In January 2007, Smith joined
Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...
for a fee of £60,000 on a -year contract. Smith made his Carlisle début in a goalless draw at
Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...
, scoring his first goal at
Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...
a week later. He was injured in a 2–1 win over
Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...
after coming on as a substitute, causing him to be replaced himself. This was his last game of the campaign. Smith was released from Carlisle at the end of 2008–09 after having played just twenty games all season, with the club narrowly avoiding
relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...
out of League One.


Darlington

He was signed by League Two's
Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...
manager
Colin Todd Colin Todd (born 12 December 1948) is an English football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Esbjerg fB. As a player, he made more than 600 appearances in the Football League, playing as a defender for Sunderland, ...
in June 2009. Darlington had a poor season. They were relegated out of the
English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...
, 18 points from safety, and lost 32 of their 46 games. The team scored just 33 goals.


Later career

In July 2010 he went on trial at
Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...
side
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
, but was not offered a contract. The following month he signed a two-year contract with Olympic Charleroi of the
Belgian Third Division B The Belgian Third Division B was one of the two leagues at the third level of the Belgian football league system, the other one being the Belgian Third Division A. This division existed from the 1952–53 until 2015–16 seasons and was played e ...
. After one season of football in Belgium, he returned to England and spent July 2011 on trial at
Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...
. In November, he joined up with Whitby Town in the
Northern Premier League Premier Division The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system. Geographically, the league c ...
. Darren Williams' "Seasiders" finished the 2011–12 season in 17th place, six points above the relegation zone. In July 2012, he signed with Celtic Nation of the Northern League Division One.


Career statistics


Honours

Bishop Auckland *
Durham Challenge Cup The Durham County Challenge Cup (commonly known as the Durham Challenge Cup) is an annual association football, football competition held between the clubs of the Durham County Football Association which was first played in 1884. It is the seni ...
: 2001 Bolton Wanderers *
Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...
play-offs:
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Jeff 1980 births Living people Footballers from Middlesbrough English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Middlesbrough F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Bishop Auckland F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Darlington F.C. players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Olympic Charleroi players Whitby Town F.C. players Celtic Nation F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Northern Premier League players British postmen 21st-century English sportsmen