Aleksey Gennadyevich Smertin ( rus, Алексе́й Генна́дьевич Сме́ртин, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej ɡʲɪˈnadʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈsʲmʲertʲɪn; born 1 May 1975) is a Russian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

official and a former player. He was a fairly versatile player and was able to play in defence as well as midfield. He works in the

Russian Football Union The Russian Football Union (, ''Rossiyskiy Futbolnyy Soyuz'' or RFS) is the official governing body of association football in the Russian Federation. With headquarters in Moscow, it organizes Russian amateur and professional football, includi ...

in two positions - "director of regional policies and international relations" and "anti-discrimination and anti-racism officer". He played for clubs in Russia, France and England. Smertin retired from professional football in 2008 after having his contract with

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

terminated and discovering a new career in politics. He was the captain of the Russian national team, and earned 55 caps from 1998 to 2006, representing the nation at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

and

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Barnaul Barnaul (, ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative centre of Altai Krai, Russia, located at the confluence of the Barnaulka and Ob (river), Ob rivers in the West Siberian Plain. As of the Russian Censu ...

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

, Smertin has previously played for Dinamo Barnaul, Zarya Leninsk-Kuznetsky, Uralan Elista,

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

, and French team

Girondins Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux () or simply Bordeaux, is a French football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It competes in the Championnat National 2 ...

before moving on to Chelsea. His older brother

Yevgeni Smertin Yevgeni Gennadyevich Smertin (; born 17 January 1969) is a former Russian professional Association football, footballer and a current football coach. Club career He made his debut in the Soviet Top League in 1988 for FC Dynamo Moscow. Persona ...

played football professionally as well.

Chelsea, Portsmouth and Charlton

Claudio Ranieri Claudio Ranieri (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of Serie A club AS Roma, Roma but will leave on 30 June 2025, followin ...

brought Smertin to Chelsea from Bordeaux in August 2003 for £3.45m, before loaning him out to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

for the 2003–04 season. After some impressive performances at

Fratton Park Fratton Park is a association football, football ground in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, and is the home of Portsmouth F.C., Portsmouth Football Club. Fratton Park's location on Portsea Island is unique in English professional football, as it ...

, most notably in Pompey's 1–0 victory over

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, Smertin returned to London. However, Ranieri had now been succeeded by

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...

, who had made his own midfield signing in compatriot

Tiago Mendes Tiago Cardoso Mendes (; born 2 May 1981), known simply as Tiago, is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a midfielder. He played professionally in five of Europe's major leagues, Portugal, England, France, Italy and Spain. He notably ...

, adding to a midfield that already boasted

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of English club Coventry City. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, one of Chelsea's greates ...

Claude Makélélé Claude Makélélé Sinda (born 18 February 1973) is a French Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. He last managed Super League Greece club Astera ...

Geremi Geremi Sorele Njitap Fotso (born 20 December 1978), known simply as Geremi, is a Cameroonian former professional footballer. He was a versatile player able to play at right back, right midfield or defensive midfielder, known for his power, p ...

, and

Scott Parker Scott Matthew Parker (born 13 October 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player who currently manages Premier League club Burnley. Parker began his career at Charlton Athletic, and was loaned to Norwich City, before ...

. Smertin only played a bit-part role for the team in 2004–05 as Chelsea won the title, but made enough appearances to earn a medal (16 in total). He did however score his first and only Chelsea goal this season, in the 3–1 Champions League win over Porto. He was ultimately deemed surplus to requirements at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in ...

and was loaned out to

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

for the 2005–06 season. At Charlton, he was a starter and had some impressive performances. In March 2006, he was transferred to

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (), is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first institution created from the All-Union Dynamo Sports Club. Dynamo Mosco ...

, for a fee of £1 million.

Dynamo Moscow

Smertin played a total of 22 games for Dynamo Moscow before being transfer listed, alongside several other newly signed players, such as

Maniche Nuno Ricardo de Oliveira Ribeiro (born 11 November 1977), known as Maniche (), is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He played top-flight football in Portugal, Russia, England, Spain, Italy and G ...

, Francisco Lima,

Costinha Francisco José Rodrigues da Costa (born 1 December 1974), known as Costinha (), is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He was also a manager. Best known for his tackling and positioning, as well ...

and

Giourkas Seitaridis Georgios "Giourkas" Seitaridis ( ; born 4 June 1981) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a right-back and occasionally as a centre-back. He has last played in 2013 for Greek Superleague side Panathinaikos, having played pr ...

Andrey Kobelev Andrey Nikolayevich Kobelev (; born 22 October 1968 in Moscow) is a Russian retired footballer who played as a midfielder and a current manager. Playing career During his career Kobelev played for FC Dynamo Moscow (three spells, more than 250 ...

's massive attempt at rebuilding the team for the new season.

Fulham

After Smertin's release from Dynamo Moscow, he returned to England, signing for

on a two-and-a-half-year deal that would see him remain at the club until the summer of 2009. He started most of the opening games of the 2007–08 season but the arrival of fellow-midfielder Danny Murphy on transfer deadline day restricted his playing opportunities. In addition, he suffered from several injury problems. When fit, Simon Davies and Danny Murphy were often preferred as the midfield pairing. On 1 September 2008, after Smertin rejected a loan move to

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

, he and Fulham cancelled his contract with immediate effect.

International career

Smertin made his debut for

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

in 1998 in a 1–0 defeat against

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

; in the same match he received a red card. He was capped 55 times for Russia, and was selected for the

and

. He was made captain in June 2004, and was succeeded in that role by

Andrey Arshavin Andrey Sergeyevich Arshavin (, ; born 29 May 1981) is a Russian former professional footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger or midfielder. Since 2019, Arshavin has held administrative posts at Zenit. In 2022 he became De ...

. He became the winner

Cyprus International Football Tournament The Cyprus International Football Tournament was an annual winter association football friendly competition for national teams that takes place in Cyprus. It was traditionally held in February as a friendly tournament since at least 1997, and last ...

2003

Post-playing activities

In July 2015, Smertin was an assistant at the draw for

2018 World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...

in St Petersburg. On 21 February 2017, he was named Russian Football Union anti-racism and discrimination inspector ahead of the 2018 World Cup. In October 2018, he was appointed director of regional policies and international relations of the Russian Football Union (while keeping his anti-racism position). At the same time he left

FC Dynamo Moscow FC Dynamo Moscow (''FC Dynamo Moskva'', , ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Dynamo returned to the Russian Premier League for the 2017–18 season after one season in the second-tier Russian Footba ...

advisor position he held up to that point.

Outside football

Smertin is married to fellow

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

n Larisa, and also has a son. After failing to find a new club after leaving Fulham, Smertin turned his hand to politics back home in Russia. In March 2009, he was elected as an MP in the Altai region of Russia.

Honours

Lokomotiv Moscow * Russian Cup: 1999–2000 Bordeaux *

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

: 2001–02 Chelsea *

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 ...

: 2004–05 Individual *Russian Footballer of the Year, awarded by '' Futbol'' and ''

Sport-Express ''Sport-Express'' () is a Russian daily sports newspaper founded by Vladimir Kuchmiy. Printed in 31 cities of Russia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and the United States, it is the biggest-selling sports newspaper in Russia, with the dail ...

'' (1999)

References

External links

* *
Russian league stats

Alexey Smertin's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smertin, Alexey 1975 births Living people Footballers from Barnaul Russian men's footballers Russia men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders FC Lokomotiv Moscow players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in France Russian expatriate sportspeople in England Russian expatriate sportspeople in France Chelsea F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Premier League players FC Dynamo Moscow players 2002 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2004 players Russian expatriate men's footballers Russian Premier League players Ligue 1 players FC Elista players FC Dynamo Barnaul players Russian sportsperson-politicians FC Zarya Leninsk-Kuznetsky players