Lexi Lloyd-Smith (born 5 March 2003) 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 plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Women's Championship The Women's Super League 2, also known as Barclays Women's Super League 2 for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in England, operated by WSL Football. It is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The div ...

club

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

and the England under-23s. She previously played for

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

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 ...

, and

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

side

South Alabama Jaguars The South Alabama Jaguars represent the University of South Alabama in NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics. USA competes in the Sun Belt Conference; it is the conference's only remaining charter member from its inception. USA's athletics te ...

Early career

Lloyd-Smith began her football career with the

Arsenal Academy The Arsenal Academy was a military academy in Columbia, South Carolina, originally established in 1842 as an independent school by the state of South Carolina. In 1845, the academy became a component of the South Carolina Military Academy (now ...

, playing four seasons with the youth set up, prior to a move to Chelsea, where she played two seasons in the WSL Academy. On 28 January 2021, she signed for

club

, prior to playing

for

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

side

, scoring 3 goals in 13 appearances.

Club career

Southampton

On 21 July 2022, Lloyd-Smith signed for

. On 22 September, during the 2022–23 season, she scored her debut goals in a 2–1 away victory over

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. On 23 November 2023, she played against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the 2023–24 League Cup group stage, in front of a recording breaking attendance for the Saints. After the 2–1 defeat, she swapped shirts with

Vivianne Miedema Anna Margaretha Marina Astrid "Vivianne" Miedema (; born 15 July 1996) is a Dutch professional association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for FA Women's Super League, Women's Super League club Manches ...

, her icon, who posted on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

with her shirt after the game. In the fifth round of the

2023–24 FA Cup The 2023–24 FA Cup was the 143rd season of the Football Association Challenge Cup, the oldest football tournament in the world. It was sponsored by Emirates and known as the Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes. The final was played on 25 M ...

, where the Saints were defeated 3–1 by

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 ...

, Lloyd-Smith scored the equalising goal as a second-half substitute. She ended her two seasons with Southampton having scored five goals in 47 appearances across all competitions, during the 2022–23 and 2023–24 seasons.

Bristol City

On 4 June 2024 it was announced that Lloyd-Smith would be leaving Southampton, and a month later, she signed for

from Southampton on a two-year free transfer deal. On 8 September, she scored her debut goal for City against her former club Southampton in a 1–1 draw. For October, having scored four goals during that month, Lloyd-Smith was nominated for the Women's Championship Player of the Month and Goal of the Month awards, that were both subsequently won by

Maria Farrugia Maria Farrugia (born 9 January 2001) is a Maltese footballer who plays as a forward for Sheffield United in the FA Women's Championship and for the Malta women's national team. Club career Growing up on the island of Gozo, Farrugia began play ...

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

. After her first nine Championship appearances in the 2024–25 season she scored six goals, becoming the joint second highest scorer in November, behind Isobel Goodwin of

London City Lionesses London City Lionesses is a professional women's association football club based in Hayes, Bromley, England. The team competes in the Women's Super League the first tier of English women's football. The club was founded in May 2019, as an indep ...

International career

Lloyd-Smith has represented England at under-15, under-17 and under-23 youth level. In October 2019, she featured in 2020 Under-17 Championship qualification for England, playing in winning matches against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. In September 2022, Lloyd-Smith stated that her main goal was to return to the England youth set up. In February 2025, she was called up to the under-23 squad, making her debut as a second-half substitute in a 3–2 defeat to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Style of play

She has been described as a fast and difficult striker who intimidates and threatens opposition defenders.

References

External links

Lexi Lloyd-Smith
at Bristol City F.C. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd-Smith, Lexi 2003 births Living people Arsenal W.F.C. players Chelsea F.C. Women players Charlton Athletic W.F.C. players Southampton F.C. Women players Bristol City W.F.C. players English women's footballers England women's youth international footballers Women's association football forwards Women's Super League 2 players 21st-century English sportswomen Black British sportswomen