Paul William Smith (born 18 September 1971) is an English former professional

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 ...

. Smith was born in

East Ham East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Essex, East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a ...

, London and began his career as a trainee with

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

, turning professional in 1990. He found his chances limited at

Roots Hall Roots Hall is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium located in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. The stadium is the home ground of the National League (English football), National League team Southend United F.C., Southend United. With a ...

and after a loan spell with Dover Athletic moved on to

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 ...

in August 1993 on a free transfer. In August 1997 he joined Gillingham, where he enjoyed the most successful spell of his career. He captained the

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

side for a lengthy spell and was also named the club's player of the year on an unprecedented four occasions, although his final reign ended in a bizarre dispute with chairman

Paul Scally Paul Damien Phillip Scally (born ) is a London-born businessman who served as the chairman of Gillingham Football Club between 1995 and 2022. Career Scally became wealthy through the sale of his Metronote photocopier business in South London a ...

in which Smith reportedly refused to hand back the trophy until he was paid money he claimed the club owed him. While with Gillingham Smith played in both the 1999 and 2000 Football League Second Division play-off finals at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

, losing to

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in 1999 on penalties, but achieving promotion to the second-tier for the first time in the Kent side's history in 2000 after defeating

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

3–2 (after extra time). He left Priestfield in 2005, after the team were relegated to

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

and he was offered reduced terms. In July 2005 he joined

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

, returning to Gillingham in October 2005 to play three times in a loan spell. He moved to

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

in January 2006, but was released in June 2006 after Swindon sacked manager

Iffy Onuora Ifem "Iffy" Onuora (born 28 July 1967) is a Scottish former professional footballer, manager, and coach for the England U21 national team. He is also the current equalities coach for the Professional Footballers Association. As a player, he wa ...

. He joined

A.F.C. Sudbury Amalgamated Football Club Sudbury is a football club based in Sudbury, Suffolk, England. The club was formed in 1999 by the merger of Sudbury Town and Sudbury Wanderers, the process giving rise to the name Amalgamated Football Club Sudbury. ...

in October 2006, but returned to

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

football when he joined

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

on 29 January 2007. He played eight times for Torquay as they were relegated to the

Conference National 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 League (English football), National Le ...

. On the eve of the transfer window in August 2007, he joined

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; anc ...

, but just one day later Bees manager

Paul Fairclough Paul Fairclough (born 31 January 1950) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of the England C team. As a player, he made five appearances for Cheshunt in the 1981–82 season. Managerial career Stevenage In ...

decided he didn't want the player and released him. Smith made one appearance for Great Wakering Rovers at the start of the 2007–08 season before moving to St Albans City for whom he made four starts before returning to

on 18 October 2007. In May 2008 he joined

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

as a player/coach, forming part of a new management team headed by first team manager

Barry Ashby Barry John Ashby (born 21 November 1970) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-half. He played for Watford, Brentford and Gillingham during a 17-year professional career. Ashby started his career at Watford, havin ...

, but the pair were sacked in October of the same year. Smith next signed for Billericay Town, and on his debut scored the winning goal against Margate.

Honours

Gillingham *

Football League Second Division play-offs The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise tw ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Individual * Gillingham Player of the Season: 1997–98, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2004–05

Sources

* * *Playfair Football Annuals 1990-91 to 2007-08

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Paul 1971 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Newham People from East Ham English men's footballers Southend United F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players A.F.C. Sudbury players Torquay United F.C. players Barnet F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players Great Wakering Rovers F.C. players Margate F.C. players Billericay Town F.C. players English Football League players Gillingham F.C. managers Men's association football midfielders English football managers