Mick Smith (footballer)

Michael Smith (born 28 October 1958) is an English former footballer who made nearly 300 appearances in the Football League playing for Lincoln City, Wimbledon, Aldershot and Hartlepool United. He played as a centre half.[3] Between leaving Wimbledon and joining Hartlepool, he spent time with Southern League club Bath City[4] and Seaham Red Star of the Northern League.

For other footballers of similar name, see Michael Smith.

Mick Smith
Personal information
Full name Michael Smith[1]
Date of birth (1958-10-28) 28 October 1958[1]
Place of birth Sunderland,[1] England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2]
Position(s) Centre half
Youth career
Lambton Street B.C.
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1977–1979 Lincoln City 25 (0)
1979–1988 Wimbledon 205 (14)
1984–1985 → Aldershot (loan) 7 (0)
1988–1989 Bath City 21 (2)
1989 Seaham Red Star
1989–1992 Hartlepool United 55 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Life and career

Smith was born in 1958 in Sunderland,[1] where he played football for Lambton Street Boys' Club. In 1977, he was one of four youngsters from that club – the others were Alan Eden, Mick Harford and Keith Laybourne – who signed for Football League Third Division club Lincoln City.[5] Smith made 27 appearances over two seasons,[6] At the end of the 1979–80 season, he joined Wimbledon, newly promoted to the Third Division having joined the Football League only two years before.[7]

He was a mainstay of the Wimbledon team for several seasons as they were twice relegated to the Fourth Division before working their way up the league to gain promotion to the First Division in 1986.[7] According to Dave Bassett and Wally Downes in the book The Crazy Gang, Smith "simply enjoyed being a typical son-of-the-soil centre-half who went in, got the ball and cleared it."[8] He played little in the top flight because of injury,[8][9] and retired from football in 1988.[10]

After making a partial recovery, Smith signed for Bath City of the Southern League during the 1988–89 season, and became their player of the year. He and the club failed to agree terms for the next season, so he returned to the north-east of England.[10] After a short period with Seaham Red Star of the Northern League, he joined Hartlepool United, and made a major contribution to the club's successful fight against relegation from the Football League.[11] The following year, he was part of the Hartlepool team that won promotion to the Third Division for the first time since 1968.[12]

Smith was youth team manager of Hartlepool for two years, from 1998 to 2000.[11]

References
  1. "Mick Smith". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  2. Rollin, Jack, ed. (1990). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1990–91 (21st ed.). Queen Anne Press. p. 274. ISBN 0-356-17911-7.
  3. "Mick Smith". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  4. "1988–1989". Bath City F.C. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  5. "Mick Harford". The Lincoln City FC Archive. Lincoln City F.C. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016.
  6. "The players". The Lincoln City FC Archive. Lincoln City F.C. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016.
  7. "Wimbledon". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  8. Bassett, Dave; Downes, Wally (2016). The Crazy Gang. Bantam. pp. 207–208. ISBN 9780857503251.
  9. "Blow". Daily Mirror. London. 3 December 1986. p. 30. Mick Smith, the Wimbledon defender, will miss the rest of their debut season in the first division. He goes into hospital on Friday for a bone graft operation to his pelvis.
  10. "Past players: S". Bath City F.C. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  11. "Scott takes on coaching role". Sunderland Echo. 1 September 2000. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  12. "Invincibles reunite for a night of Pools nostalgia". The Northern Echo. Darlington. 23 November 2010. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
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