Deane Alfie Michael Smalley (born 5 September 1988) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who is currently signed to

Avro Avro (an initialism of the founder's name) was a British aircraft manufacturer. Its designs include the Avro 504, used as a trainer in the First World War, the Avro Lancaster, one of the pre-eminent bombers of the Second World War, and the d ...

. His career saw him play as a striker before converting to playing as a centre-back later in his career.

Career

Born in

Chadderton Chadderton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk and Rochdale Canal. It is located in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Oldham, south of Rochdale and north-east of Manchester. The ...

, Greater Manchester, Smalley began his career with

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

and regularly featured in the reserve squad, before making two appearances with the first at the end of the 2006–07 season. His first team debut came on 24 February 2007 in a 1–0 loss to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

. Smalley's first goal for the club came on 14 August 2007 in a 4–1 win versus

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

in the League Cup. On 28 August 2007, Smalley made his first start in a 3–0 loss to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

in the League Cup. On 26 April 2008, Smalley scored his first league goal for Oldham Athletic in a 2–1 win versus

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

. He joined

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 a month-long loan on 23 September 2010 before joining Chesterfield on loan on 1 November. At the end of the 2010–11 season he was offered a new contract by Oldham, but instead he rejected it to sign for

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

on a two-year contract. As Smalley was under the age of 24, Oldham Athletic were entitled to compensation from Oxford and agreed an undisclosed figure with the club. He signed on loan for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

in January 2012. He made his debut against

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

, coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute for

Nahki Wells Nahki Michael Wells (born 1 June 1990) is a Bermudian professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for club Bristol City F.C., Bristol City and the Bermuda national football team, Bermuda ...

. He returned to Oxford at the end of the season after making 13 appearances for Bradford. On 25 August 2012, he scored twice as Oxford beat

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

2–1 at the

Kassam Stadium The Kassam Stadium (also known as Grenoble Road) is the home of Oxford United F.C., and is named after the ground's owner and former chairman of the football club, Firoz Kassam. The Kassam Stadium was built whilst Oxford United played in Di ...

. After a poor injury-hit season, Smalley signed a new one-year deal with Oxford on reduced terms. He repaid the faith shown in him by scoring two goals in a 4–1 away victory over

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 ...

on the opening day of the 2013–14 season. He signed for Plymouth Argyle on 20 May 2014, scoring his first goal for the club in a 1-1 League 2 draw with

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

. In December 2014 he suffered cruciate ligament injuries and only returned to the match day squad in November 2015, 11 months later, in a league game against

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

. On 21 January 2016 Smalley joined Newport County on loan until the end of the 2015–16 season. He made his Newport debut in the starting line up versus Dagenham & Redbridge on 23 January 2016. In the summer of 2018 he signed for

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

after a successful trial with the club. On 13 February 2019, Smalley signed with

Hyde United Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England, formed in 1919. The team's strip is red shirts and black shorts and their home ground is the 4,250 capacity Ewen Fields. Hyde United's record ...

where he linked up with his brother Dom Smalley. He played 8 games for the club, scoring two goals, before joining

Abbey Hey Abbey Hey is an area of Gorton, in the city of Manchester, England. It is known mainly for Debdale Park and Wright Robinson College. Borders The neighbourhood is bordered on the east by the former Stockport Branch Canal (now Yellow Brick Roa ...

on 3 August 2019. In December 2020, he switched to

North West Counties Football League The North West Counties Football League is a association football, football league in the North West England, North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, ...

Premier Division rivals Wythenshawe Town. On the 4th July 2023, Smalley signed for Avro FC along with his brother Dom. https://www.avrofc.co.uk/smalleys-sign-up-for-2023-24-season/

Career statistics

Honours

;Chesterfield *

Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

References

External links

Deane Smalley profile
at

Oldham Athletic A.F.C. Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league syst ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smalley, Deane 1988 births Living people People from Chadderton Footballers from Greater Manchester Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham English men's footballers Footballers from Oldham Men's association football forwards Newport County A.F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Chester F.C. players Hyde United F.C. players Abbey Hey F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players North West Counties Football League players Wythenshawe Town F.C. players Avro F.C. players 21st-century English sportsmen