Johann Smith

Johann Smith
Personal information
Full name Johann Ryan Anwar Smith
Date of birth (1987-04-25) April 25, 1987 (age 37)
Place of birth Hartford, Connecticut, United States
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s) Forward / Winger / Left back
Youth career
Oakwood SC
Bolton Wanderers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Bolton Wanderers 1 (0)
2007 → Carlisle United (loan) 14 (1)
2007 → Darlington (loan) 3 (0)
2008 → Stockport County (loan) 2 (0)
2008–2009 Toronto FC 14 (0)
2009–2010 Rijeka 5 (0)
2010 Kalmar FF 2 (0)
2012 KuPS 4 (0)
2014 Adelaide Raiders 5 (0)
2014 Cumberland United 8 (4)
2015–2016 FC Edmonton 35 (0)
Total 93 (5)
International career‡
2006–2007 United States U-20 5 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of October 29, 2016
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of March 23, 2010

Johann Smith (born April 25, 1987, in Hartford, Connecticut) is an American former soccer player who played as a forward, winger, and left back.

Career

Youth

Smith grew up in Bloomfield, Connecticut and attended Watkinson School in nearby Hartford, where he played varsity soccer for four years, garnering All-State honors during his junior and senior campaigns. In addition, Smith also enjoyed success on the school's track and field team, once running the 100 meters in 10.5 seconds. Smith also played club soccer for Oakwood Soccer Club. He went on trial during Bolton Wanderers preseason training and impressed by what they saw, Smith was offered a three-year scholarship contract with Bolton's youth academy.

Professional

Smith was named as a Bolton substitute for games against Tottenham Hotspur and Charlton Athletic during the early part of the 2006-07 season. He made his first team debut for Bolton in their League Cup defeat at Charlton Athletic in October 2006, and made his Premier League debut against Manchester United on October 28, 2006, as an 85th-minute substitute for Kevin Davies.

Smith joined Carlisle United on loan in January 2007,[1] making his debut against Doncaster Rovers as a 63rd-minute substitute, replacing Kevin Gall. He scored his first professional goal on April 29, 2007, against Swansea City.[2]

Following his injury playing internationally for the United States, Smith missed all of Bolton's 2007 pre-season, including the Peace Cup in South Korea. When he regained his fitness, he was loaned out to League Two clubs Darlington and Stockport County.

In May 2008 he was one of a number of young players released by Bolton manager Gary Megson. Afterwards, he signed with Toronto FC.[3]

Smith made his MLS debut on August 17, 2008, as a second-half substitute in a 2–0 loss to the New York Red Bulls. Midway through the 2009 MLS season, Smith expressed his desire to leave Toronto. After long talks with the Toronto FC GM, both parties decided leaving was in the best interest of Smith, especially with interest for him coming from a club in Croatia. He was released by Toronto FC on June 16, 2009.[4]

In July 2009 he signed a two-year contract with HNK Rijeka of the Croatian Prva Liga. Smith made his debut the same month in Rijeka's match against Luxembourg side FC Differdange 03 in the Europa League qualifying round when he came off the bench.

After leaving Rijeka, Johann trained with Kalmar FF of the Swedish Allsvenskan for two weeks. On March 23, 2010, Kalmar FF and Smith agreed to a one-year contract. On May 25, Kalmar FF terminated their contract with Smith, stating that he did not live up to their expectations.[5]

Smith was in talks with Rijnsburgse Boys of the Dutch Topklasse league in February 2011. However, a contract was not offered. Later in 2011, Smith continued to trial around Europe, most notably with German sides SV Wacker Burghausen, Kickers Offenbach and 1. FC Magdeburg.

Smith trialed with the New York Red Bulls in the summer of 2012, but was not offered a contract.[6]

In September 2012, Smith signed a contract with Finnish club KuPS of the Veikkausliiga until the end of the season, ending Smith's two-year hiatus from professional soccer.[7]

In 2014, Smith spent time with both Adelaide Raiders and Cumberland United in the NPL South Australia.

On March 17, 2015, Smith signed with Canadian club FC Edmonton of the North American Soccer League.[8]

International

Smith was named to the United States squad for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada, but a pre-tournament injury forced his removal from the team. He has since played for the United States U-20 team, but he has not been called up to the senior squad.

Career statistics

As of match played 5 September 2016
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Bolton Wanderers 2006-07[9] Premier League 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 3 0
2007-08[10] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 3 0
Carlisle United (loan) 2006-07[9] League One 14 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 1
Darlington Country (loan) 2007-08[10] League Two 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Stockport County (loan) 2007-08[10] League Two 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Toronto FC 2008[11] MLS 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0
2009[12] 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Total 14 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 15 0
Rijeka 2009-10[12] Prva HNL 5 0 0 0 0 0 4[a] 0 9 0
Kalmar 2010[12] Allsvenskan 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
KuPS 2012[12] Veikkausliiga 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Edmonton 2015[12] NASL 22 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 24 0
2016[12] 13 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 15 0
Total 35 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 39 0
Career total 79 1 7 0 1 0 4 0 91 1
Notes
  1. ^ Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League.

Academic career

Smith has been studying at Stanford University since the winter semester of 2021/2022. He is studying American history as a major in order to qualify for medical studies at Stanford. In addition to his studies, he is a volunteer coach of the men's soccer team at his university.[13]

References

  1. ^ "Smith Enlists For Blue Army Stint". Archived from the original on 2012-07-22. Retrieved 2007-01-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ "Carlisle 1-2 Swansea". BBC. 28 April 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  3. ^ Toronto FC Signs Young Striker Smith
  4. ^ Toronto FC releases American striker Smith
  5. ^ "KFF bryter med Smith" (in Swedish). barometern.se. 2010-05-25. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
  6. ^ "Johann Smith is on trial with the New York Red Bulls". socceroverthere.com. 2012-08-14. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
  7. ^ "Uusi jenkkihyökkääjä KuPS-paitaan" (in Finnish). yle.fi. 2012-09-26. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
  8. ^ "FC Edmonton Adds Speedster Johann Smith To Backline". NASL. 2015-03-17. Retrieved 2015-03-17.
  9. ^ a b "Games played by Johann Smith in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  10. ^ a b c "Games played by Johann Smith in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  11. ^ "2008 Toronto FC Stats". Archived from the original on 19 January 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Johann Smith at Soccerway. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  13. ^ Stanford University (2021). "Johann Smith traveled the world for more than a decade playing professional soccer until, at 30, he decided it was time to embark on life's next journey". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-25.