Matthew Robert Smith (born 22 November 1999) is a 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for club Newport County and the Wales national team.

Club career

Manchester City

Having initially joined the academy of

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

at a young age, in 2013 Smith moved to the academy of

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, where he progressed through several age groups. In July 2018 at the age of 18, Smith joined Dutch

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

club

FC Twente Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...

on a season-long loan, eventually making 37 appearances and scoring 2 goals, playing a key role in the club's promotion to the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

. Over the next two seasons, he was again sent out on loan to

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

clubs

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

and

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 ...

, as well as

EFL 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 ...

club

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 ...

, making over 40 appearances for the latter. Ahead of the 2021–22 season, on 6 August 2021 Smith joined EFL Championship club

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

on another season-long loan.

Milton Keynes Dons

On 31 January 2022, following limited opportunities with Hull, Smith was recalled from his loan and immediately transferred to

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

club

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

on a permanent deal for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut for the club on 8 February 2022, in a 1–1 draw away to

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Established in 1997, the current Flee ...

St. Johnstone

In August 2023 Smith joined

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

on a two-year contract. He was released by St Johnstone at the end of the 2024-25 season.

Newport County

Smith signed a two-year deal with Newport County in June 2025.

International career

Smith qualifies for the Wales national team through his grandfather who is from

Blackwood Blackwood may refer to: Botany * African blackwood (''Dalbergia melanoxylon''), a timber tree of Africa * African blackwood ('' Erythrophleum africanum''), (''Peltophorum africanum'') also Rhodesian blackwood, trees from Africa * Australian blac ...

, Wales. Smith has played for Wales at

U17 U17 or U-17 may refer to: Naval vessels * * , various vessels * , a submarine of the Austro-Hungarian Navy Other uses * Cessna U-17 Skywagon, an American utility aircraft * Nonconvex great rhombicuboctahedron In geometry, the nonconvex g ...

, U19, U21 and

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

level, often captaining the side at youth level. He received a first call-up to the senior squad on 20 May 2018. He made his senior debut for Wales in a friendly 0–0 tie with

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, replacing

Tom Lawrence Thomas Morris Lawrence (born 13 January 1994) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Rangers and the Wales national team. Born in Wrexham, he joined Manchester United at the age of eight and made his way up thro ...

after 81 minutes. In May 2021 he was selected for the Wales squad for the delayed

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

tournament. In November 2022 he was named in the Wales squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

FC Twente *

: 2018–19

References

External links

*
Milton Keynes Dons profile
*

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Matthew 1999 births Living people Footballers from Redditch Men's association football midfielders Welsh men's footballers 21st-century Welsh sportsmen Wales men's youth international footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers Wales men's international footballers English men's footballers English people of Welsh descent Manchester City F.C. players FC Twente players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players English Football League players Eerste Divisie players UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Welsh expatriate men's footballers Welsh expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands 21st-century English sportsmen Newport County A.F.C. players