Mark Smith (footballer, born 1964)
Mark Alexander Smith (born 16 December 1964) is a Scottish former footballer who played in the English Football League for Mansfield Town, Reading, Nottingham Forest, Shrewsbury Town and Stoke City. In Scotland he played for Queen's Park, Celtic, Dunfermline Athletic, Hamilton Academical and Ayr United.[1][3]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mark Alexander Smith[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 16 December 1964[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Bellshill, Scotland[1] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Winger | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1983–1986 | Queen's Park | 82 | (7) |
| 1986–1987 | Celtic | 6 | (0) |
| 1987–1989 | Dunfermline Athletic | 52 | (6) |
| 1989–1990 | → Hamilton Academical (loan) | 5 | (1) |
| 1989–1990 | → Stoke City (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 1990–1991 | Nottingham Forest | 0 | (0) |
| 1990 | → Reading (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 1991 | → Mansfield Town (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 1991–1995 | Shrewsbury Town | 78 | (4) |
| 1995–1996 | Queen's Park | 1 | (0) |
| 1996 | Ayr United | 10 | (1) |
| 1996–1998 | Queen's Park | 23 | (0) |
| Total | 269 | (19) | |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Career
Smith was born in Bellshill and began his career with Queen's Park. After impressing enough he earned the chance to play for Celtic but managed just six appearances in his time at Celtic Park and left for Dunfermline Athletic. Smith spent two seasons at East End Park making 52 league appearances for the "Pars" scoring six goals. During his time with Dunfermline he spent time out on loan at Hamilton Academical and English side Stoke City.[1] He was at Stoke for a month in the 1989–90 season and managed just two appearances for the "Potters". Nottingham Forest were seemingly impressed with Smith's performances and he joined them after his loan at Stoke ended.[1] However, he failed to make an appearance for Forest and was instead loaned out to Third Division Reading and then Mansfield Town before signing for Shrewsbury Town.[1] He enjoyed the best spell of his career with the "Shrews" where he spent four seasons helping the side win the Third Division title in 1993–94. He returned to Scotland to play for old club Queen's Park and after playing for Ayr United he made a third return to Queen's Park.
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other[lower-alpha 1] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Stoke City (loan) | 1989–90 | Second Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Nottingham Forest | 1989–90 | First Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reading (loan) | 1990–91 | Third Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Mansfield Town (loan) | 1990–91 | Third Division | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Shrewsbury Town | 1991–92 | Third Division | 22 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 2 |
| 1992–93 | Third Division | 31 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 1 | |
| 1993–94 | Third Division | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
| 1994–95 | Second Division | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 2 | |
| Career total | 90 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 103 | 5 | ||
- Includes Football League Trophy.
References
- Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
- Rollin, Jack, ed. (1995). Rothmans Football Yearbook: 1995–96. London: Headline. p. 510. ISBN 0-7472-7823-7. OCLC 60284604.
- Lowe, Simon (2000). Stoke City The Modern Era – A Complete Record. Desert Island Books. ISBN 1-874287-39-2.
- Mark Smith at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)