Emmanuele Gabriel Smith (born 8 November 1988) is an English former 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 played as a defender for

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

and

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

Career

Walsall

Born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, West Midlands, Smith progressed through the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

, eventually signing a one-year contract in May 2006, which kicked off his professional career. He was captain of Walsall reserve team during the 2006–07 season. He was on the verge of the first team during this very season, however the management at Walsall believed that he lacked that competitive match experience which was needed to become a first-team regular. He was allowed to link up with

Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven a ...

Premier Division side,

Halesowen Town Halesowen Town Football Club is a football club based in Halesowen, West Midlands, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Grove Recreation Ground. History The club was believed to have been established around 1873, but rec ...

on loan. During his short time at the club Smith made five league appearances for the Birmingham-based outfit before returning to

Bescot Stadium Bescot Stadium, currently known as the Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in the area of Bescot, Walsall, West Midlands, England, and is the current home ground of Walsall Football Club and Aston Vill ...

, to make his professional debut on 7 April 2007 in Walsall's

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 ...

clash with

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

. The centre half came on as a 70th-minute substitute in this game replacing

Craig Pead Craig George Pead (born 15 September 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a full back in the Football League for Walsall, Coventry City, Brentford and Notts County. He was capped by England at youth level and later b ...

. Smith started the 2007–08 campaign in high spirit after making his debut in the previous season, he had also just signed another contract with the club in May 2007, meaning he would remain at the

until May 2008. This would prove to be a difficult season for him, especially if he wanted to climb back up the ladder and break back into the first-team. However, during the start of the season he failed to do so spending a lot of time playing in the reserve side. February 2008, turned out to be a big month him following the sale of defensive colleague

Scott Dann Scott Dann (born 14 February 1987) is an English professional association football, footballer who plays as a centre back. He began his Football League career with Walsall F.C., Walsall, before moving on to Coventry City F.C., Coventry City an ...

, who joined

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

towards the very end of the January transfer window. Despite the summer departure of fellow centre half

Ian Roper Ian Robert Roper (born 20 June 1977) is an English former footballer who played as a defender. He made over 300 appearances in the Football League for Walsall between 1995 and 2008. Career Walsall Born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, Roper worked ...

, Smith remained as only the third choice centre half due to the arrival of Stephen Roberts from

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 ...

. He signed a new two-year contract with the club on 10 May 2010. In February 2012, Smith was disciplined by the club for his offensive tweet to a lifelong supporter.

Notts County

On 9 July 2012, Smith signed a two-year deal with League One club

. He played his first competitive game for the club in a League Cup match against

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 ...

. However, he was stretchered off in the first half after twisting his knee in a challenge with

Alan Connell Alan John Connell (born 5 February 1983) is an English former professional Association football, footballer and current youth team coach at AFC Bournemouth. As a player, he was a forward (association football), striker who played between 2001 a ...

, it was later confirmed by

Keith Curle Keith Curle (born 14 November 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player, who was most recently the manager of National League side Hartlepool United. He played as a centre back from 1981 to 2005, notably in the Prem ...

that Smith would be out for three months.

Wrexham

On 5 August 2014, he signed with

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 ...

side Wrexham. The 25-year-old centre-back joined the Dragons on a one-year deal after impressing on trial. Smith played in every minute of Wrexham's 61 league and cup games with 1 goal, the opening goal in the 3–1 win over Maidstone in the FA Cup 2nd round, in the 2014–15 season as his performances earned him the club's Player of the Season award. Smith signed a new one-year deal with Wrexham after the 2014–15 season, keeping him at the Red Dragons for the 2015–16 season. He played in his 100th career appearance for Wrexham, as the beat

Cross-border Borders are generally defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ...

rivals

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 ...

, 3–0 at the

Racecourse A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also us ...

Gateshead

Smith was released by Wrexham at the end of the 2015–16 season, and signed a two-year contract with another

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

club,

Return to Wrexham

On 7 June 2017, Smith returned to Wrexham after cancelling his contract with Gateshead for personal reasons. During the 2017–18 season, Smith was a key player in Wrexham's all-time best defensive record, which earned him a spot in the National League team of the season. On 14 January 2020, Smith announced his retirement after being unable to overcome a serious knee injury.

Career statistics

Honours

Wrexham *

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

runner-up: 2014–15

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Manny 1988 births Living people Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Walsall F.C. players Halesowen Town F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players National League (English football) players 21st-century English sportsmen