Alan Smith (soccer player, 1980)

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Alan Smith
Alan Smith MK Dons (cropped) .jpg
Alan Smith (2012)
Personnel
birthday October 28, 1980
place of birth Wakefield ,  England
size 178 cm
position Sturm , midfield
Juniors
Years station
1997-1998 Leeds United
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1998-2004 Leeds United 172 (38)
2004-2007 Manchester United 61 0(7)
2007–2012 Newcastle United 84 0(0)
2012 →  Milton Keynes  (loan) 16 0(1)
2012-2014 Milton Keynes 51 0(1)
2014– Notts County 55 0(0)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1999-2001 England U21 10 0(3)
2007 England B 1 0(1)
2001-2007 England 19 0(1)
1 Only league games are given.
Status: October 22, 2016

Alan Smith (born October 28, 1980 in Wakefield ) is an English football player . As a versatile offensive player who can be deployed in several positions - often in the central midfield or in attack - he has particular strengths in duels and in conquering the ball. Smith was trained at Leeds United . There he spent his first six professional years and after relegation to the first division , he moved to Manchester United in 2004 . With “United”, the 19-time England national team player won the league cup in 2006 and the English championship a year later .

Club career

Leeds United

After going through the youth division of Leeds United , Smith signed his first professional contract there in late March 1998. In the first competitive game at Liverpool FC , he scored the first goal in November 1998, after being substituted on for Clyde Wijnhard shortly before . From then on, he was part of a young and up-and-coming team that established itself among the top four in the Premier League in the 1998/99 season. He initially formed a stumbling duo with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and, after he left the club, with new partners such as Mark Viduka . He moved with his men in the 2000/01 season to the semi-finals of the Champions League , which ended bitterly for him against Valencia with a suspension at 3-0 in the second leg and earned him extensive criticism of his unbridled temperament. In the following season 2001/02 coach David O'Leary pulled him back into midfield, primarily to make room in the storm for signings. Nevertheless, he remained popular with his own supporters in the following two years, which was also due to his versatility and instead of his preferred attacking role, he helped out in many - mostly running-intensive - positions. He won the club's internal election for best player in 2003 and 2004, before massive financial problems and Leeds United's first division relegation caused an early end. The fact that he moved to bitter rival Manchester United for a transfer fee of seven million pounds made him a “cheat” in the eyes of fans, although no other competitor had bid and Smith had made concessions to his ex-club regarding the money he was entitled to.

Manchester United

Alan Smith (2004)

On August 8, 2004, Smith played his first game after moving to Manchester United against Arsenal and scored the interim equalizer at 1: 3. In his first season for Manchester United, Alan Smith scored ten competitive goals for the new club, but had to take a break from important games such as the league cup semi-final against Chelsea or the FA Cup final , which was lost to Arsenal on penalties due to injury. Since he found himself on the bench more and more often due to the good form of Wayne Rooney and the recovered Ruud van Nistelrooy , the rumors about a new change quickly increased. However, he was then given the chance to prove himself in midfield as the successor to Roy Keane , who was injured early in the 2005/06 season. After a longer period in the center, however, he was accused of lacking effectiveness and the lack of stability in midfield had its low point at 1: 4 against Middlesbrough FC . Only a week later, the duel with the leaders Chelsea was on and the men around Smith, who were heavily criticized (by Keane, among others), rehabilitated themselves with a 1-0 victory. A turning point seemed possible and shortly afterwards Smith even declined an invitation from the national team to work on his fitness and the new midfield role. The positive development came to an abrupt end on February 18, 2006, when he was seriously injured in the quarter-final second leg of the FA Cup at Liverpool FC. He fell unlucky on his own heel after trying to ward off a John Arne Riise free kick - United manager Alex Ferguson later noted it was one of the worst injuries he'd seen. This ended the current season for Smith and he missed the possible participation in the World Cup finals in Germany . In the victorious league cup final against Wigan Athletic (4-0), his teammates wore T-shirts with the words "For you Smudge" (which was his nickname) dedicated to him.

Earlier than originally expected - initially a break of up to a year had been promised - Smith returned to training for the 2006/07 season. Ferguson had even opened him a possible use in the traditional center-forward position after van Nistelrooy's departure. After a brief appearance on September 26, 2006 against Benfica Lisbon , he had to wait a long time for a first appearance in the starting XI and at that time a possible loan deal to his ex-club Leeds United was up for discussion. However, this did not materialize and on March 19, 2007 he was in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup against FC Middlesbrough (1-0) for the first time from the beginning. He scored his first goal since his injury on April 10, 2007 in a 7-1 victory in the Champions League against AS Roma . That year Manchester United won the English championship and although he had formally contributed too little for the official receipt of a medal with nine appearances, the Premier League Association made him a "special edition" available on request. A week later, he was substituted on in the FA Cup final against Chelsea in extra time and lost 1-0. On August 2, 2007, Newcastle United confirmed Smith's £ 6million signing.

Newcastle United

Smith signed a five-year contract with the Magpies. Although he immediately scored a goal in a friendly against Sampdoria Genoa (1-0), he found it difficult in the following years and remained completely without a goal in the 2007/08 season. This was also due to his withdrawn role and the team-internal competition with Obafemi Martins , Michael Owen and Mark Viduka, which blocked his way to a forward position. In addition, the critical voices accusing him of a lack of discipline increased again - he committed the most fouls in the Premier League and in the course of his career he was sent off seven times. Newcastle intended to get rid of him after a year, but in view of the high salary he was receiving, there was no buyer. After a stress fracture in his foot, the following season began for him in February 2009 and by that time he had fallen back in the pecking order. This became particularly clear when he was not used in the decisive game before relegation against Aston Villa and coach Alan Shearer instead initially relied on Viduka and Martins and in the second half on Owen and Shola Ameobi .

After the second first division relegation in his career, Smith came back more regularly. As a substitute captain behind Nicky Butt , he led the team to the second division championship and the associated return to the Premier League. There he suffered an ankle injury against Sunderland AFC (1-1) on January 16, 2011 , which caused him to miss most of the end of the season. Since he could not be guaranteed any further regular appearances in the first team in the further course, the club loaned him to the third division club Milton Keynes Dons in late January 2012 .

Milton Keynes Dons & Notts County

With the "Dons" he spent the rest of the season and he reached the play-off semifinals against Huddersfield Town . Here, after a 2-0 defeat in the first leg, he scored a goal in the second leg in the last minute to make it 2-1, which was not enough to advance. In July 2012, Smith then signed a new two-year deal with the Milton Keynes Dons after being released from Newcastle on a free transfer. In the two years that began unhappily for him with a red card against AFC Bournemouth after only 19 minutes, he worked at the same time on coaching and after the expiring contract was no longer extended. Immediately afterwards, another third division team called Notts County in May 2014. Although Smith rose with his new club in his first year in the fourth division, but he played an important role in the club as a leader and assistant coach.

English national team

Smith was trained in the English Football Association's academy and has competed in various youth selections. He made his debut on February 12, 1998 for the English U-18s in a 1-0 win against Israel. He later took part in the U-18 European Championship in Cyprus in all three group games, which ended with the narrow elimination due to the worse goal difference. On October 13, 1998, he completed his sixth and last U-18 international game by substituting for Darius Vassell in Italy (4-2). In his first appearance for the English U-21s , he scored his first (and ultimately only) goal on October 8, 1999 against Denmark (4-1) after 19 minutes. He played four more games at this level before he played for the English senior team on May 25, 2001 against Mexico (4-0) for the first time by substituting for Michael Owen in the second half . For the upcoming World Cup finals in 2002 in Japan and South Korea , he has not yet been considered. Instead, he played the U-21 European Championship in Switzerland , which despite a 2-1 opening win against the hosts after two subsequent defeats against Italy (1: 2, here Smith scored the goal for England) and Portugal (1 : 3) ended with the end in the preliminary round.

From then on he continued his international career in the senior team and on his fourth appearance and starting eleven debut against Portugal (1-1) he scored his first goal in September 2002 just before the first half. A month later, he came two more times within four days, and after a brief stint in stoppage time against Slovakia (2: 1) in the game against Macedonia (2: 2), he was back from the start But this lot saw the yellow-red card . Only in the spring of 2004 he came to Portugal (1: 1) and Sweden (0: 1) further to two short appearances, but he was from England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson is not in the 24-man squad for the Euro 2004 in Portugal nominated (He was only one of five “stand-by players”). After moving to Manchester United, Smith started for England in the friendly against Ukraine on August 18, 2004 and was replaced by Jermain Defoe at halftime . In the following early qualifying phase for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, he played three games, but only the first was in Vienna against Austria (2-2) from the start (in all games he was substituted on or off for Defoe). Then he got next to friendly games only in a competitive game a short probation chance for a few minutes in October 2005 in a 2-1 against Poland . It was followed by a longer period of absence before he played on May 26, 2007 in the English B-team against Albania (3-1). A few days later he was on the big stage again against Brazil (1: 1). His 19th and last international match he played on November 16, 2007 again in Vienna against Austria (1-0) by substituting for Peter Crouch .

Title / Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f "Leeds United Player Profiles: Alan Smith" (Leeds United FC History)
  2. ↑ "Alan Smith eyeing future in management - but Notts County veteran has no retirement plans just yet" (mirror.co.uk)
personal data
SURNAME Smith, Alan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH October 28, 1980
PLACE OF BIRTH Wakefield