Benjamin James Smith (born 5 September 1986) is an English

football goalkeeper The goalkeeper (sometimes written as goal-keeper, abbreviated as GK, keeper, keeps, or goalie) is a position in association football. It is the most specialised position in the sport. The goalkeeper's main role is to stop the opposing team from ...

who last played for

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

. He also made senior appearances in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

and Lincoln City, and was part of the

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

squad which won promotion from League Two in the 2011–12 season.

Biography

Smith is son of the renowned goalkeeper and goalkeeping coach Simon Smith. He attended

Whitley Bay High School Whitley Bay High School is a mixed upper school and sixth form located in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, England. Admissions The school has 1600 pupils; more than 600 are in the sixth form. In 2006, the school was awarded Specialist College Sta ...

. He has previously been on the books of

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

's youth team, spending a period on loan with

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

and on trial at

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

, before joining

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

on non-contract terms on 23 March 2006. He made his debut for Doncaster in a League Cup game against

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

on 24 October 2006, which led to a run in the side as Rovers first choice goalkeeper, but the signing of ever-present goalkeeper

Neil Sullivan Neil Sullivan (born 24 February 1970) is a professional football player and coach. He played as a goalkeeper from 1988 until 2013, playing in the Premier League for Wimbledon, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and represented Scotland internation ...

saw Smith getting limited chances in the first team. He went on loan to Lincoln City in November 2007. On 16 October 2009 Smith joined

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

on a one-month loan, to cover for injured

Barry Roche Barry Christopher Roche (born 6 April 1982) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and now works as a goalkeeping coach for Fleetwood. He is an Irish former Under-21 international. Career Nottingham Forest Born i ...

. In May 2010, Doncaster announced that he was one of 6 players not asked to re-sign. On 29 July 2010, Smith joined League Two club

on a two-year contract after a successful trial period. In May 2012, Smith was released by the club following their promotion 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 ...

, having lost his place earlier in the season to

Chris Neal Christopher Michael Neal (born 23 October 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and is now goalkeeping coach at club AFC Fylde. Neal began his career at Preston North End, making his English Football Le ...

. On 10 August 2012 it was announced that Smith had signed with League Two club

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

on non-contract terms to act as cover to first choice goalkeeper

Josh Lillis Joshua Mark Lillis (born 24 June 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. He is currently goalkeeping coach at Rochdale. He began his career at Scunthorpe United in the League One and Championship. He spent time ...

. He then moved on to

Conference Premier 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 Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

team

until the end of the season in March 2014. However, during his second start for the club, he suffered a torn groin muscle against Newport County, which ruled him out for the remainder of the season. Outside of football, Smith runs a number of businesses in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

with his wife.

Achievements

play-off winner: 2007–08

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Ben 1986 births Living people Men's association football goalkeepers English men's footballers Newcastle United F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Southport F.C. players English Football League players Sportspeople from Whitley Bay Footballers from Tyne and Wear 21st-century English sportsmen