Gareth Shaun Smith (born 9 April 1971) 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 ...

. Smith spent the majority of his career at

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

, playing in 400 League games and more than 460 overall. The highlight of Smith's career came when he scored the winner for Crewe Alexandra in their 1-0 victory over

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

in the 1997 1997 Football League Second Division play-off final at Wembley. This took Crewe into the second tier of English football for the first time in around a century. He had also played in the 1993 Third division final at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

, which Crewe lost on penalties to

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

. During the first division era Smith played mostly at left back for Crewe and was popular with the supporters despite never being a big star. He won the supporter's player of the year award in 2000–01. Smith eventually left Crewe in the summer of 2002 to join Hull City, where he scored once against

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

, and a year later had two joint testimonial games (alongside fellow player Steve Macauley) at Crewe's Alexandra Stadium against

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

clubs

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and Everton.

Honours

;with Crewe Alexandra *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

play-off final winner:

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

References

External links

* 1971 births Living people Footballers from Leeds English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Halifax Town A.F.C. players Wakefield F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players York City F.C. players English Football League players {{England-footy-defender-1970s-stub