Connor Smith (footballer, born 1993)

Connor Smith
Personal information
Full name Connor Michael Smith[1]
Date of birth (1993-02-18) 18 February 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth Mullingar, Ireland
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Barnet
(assistant manager)
Youth career
0000–2010 Mullingar Athletic
2010–2011 Watford
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2016 Watford 8 (0)
2011–2012 → Wealdstone (loan) 22 (3)
2014 → Gillingham (loan) 10 (0)
2015 → Stevenage (loan) 4 (0)
2016 AFC Wimbledon 10 (0)
2016–2017 Plymouth Argyle 25 (1)
2017–2018 Yeovil Town 19 (0)
2018–2019 Boreham Wood 9 (0)
2019 Billericay Town 5 (1)
2019 → Kingstonian (loan) 4 (1)
2019 → Kings Langley (loan) 8 (0)
2019–2021 Wealdstone 51 (2)
2021–2022 Boreham Wood 14 (0)
2022–2023 Barnet 6 (0)
International career‡
2009 Republic of Ireland U17
2011–2012 Republic of Ireland U19 6 (1)
2013–2014 Republic of Ireland U21 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:13, 20 November 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13:20, 8 September 2015 (UTC)

Connor Michael Smith (born 18 February 1993) is an Irish former footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently assistant manager of National League side Barnet.

Career

Born in Ireland, Smith came to prominence in 2010, finishing as runner-up to Ben Greenhalgh on the television show Football's Next Star.[2] He joined the academy setup at Watford later that year in May, signing a two-year apprenticeship.[3]

In November 2011, Smith joined Isthmian League side Wealdstone on loan until January 2012, along with Britt Assombalonga.[4] In January, the loan was extended for a further two months after the club had remained unbeaten.[5]

Smith signed his first professional contract with Watford in May 2012.[6] His professional debut for Watford came on 18 August 2012, in a 3–2 victory over Crystal Palace in the Football League Championship, replacing Sean Murray as a substitute. On 8 January 2014, Smith signed on loan for Gillingham until the end of the 2013–14 season.[7]

On 1 September 2015, Smith signed for League Two side Stevenage on an initial month loan.[8] Smith left Watford on 21 January 2016 after his contract was cancelled by mutual consent. The next day Smith signed a permanent contract with AFC Wimbledon. Despite only playing 11 games for the Dons, Smith joined Plymouth Argyle.[9] He scored his first goal for Plymouth in an EFL Trophy tie against former club AFC Wimbledon on 4 October 2016.[10]

Having helped Plymouth Argyle to achieve promotion to League One, Smith was released at the end of the 2016–17 season.[11] Following his release by Plymouth, Smith signed for League Two side Yeovil Town on a two-year contract.[12] On 5 July 2018, Smith's contract with Yeovil Town was terminated by mutual consent.[13]

On 6 July 2018, Smith signed for National League side Boreham Wood.[14]

On 4 January 2019, Smith signed for Billericay Town on an 18-month contract.[15]

Smith then signed for Wealdstone for a second time ahead of the 2019–2020 season. [16] Smith was part of the Wealdstone side who won promotion to the National League in 2019-20. Smith's first goal in his second stint at the Stones came on 2 March 2021, against his former side Boreham Wood in a 1–0 victory.[17] On 4 June 2021 it was announced that Smith had left the club.[18]

In June 2021, Smith returned to Boreham Wood to take on a player/first team coach role.[19] On 12 July 2022, Smith signed for Barnet on a two-year contract.[20] Following the departure of John Dreyer, he became assistant manager at the Bees.[21]

Career statistics

As of match played 22 November 2022
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Watford 2011–12[22] Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
2012–13[23] Championship 7 0 0 0 0 0 — 7 0
2013–14[24] Championship 1 0 1 0 3 0 — 5 0
2014–15[25] Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015–16[26] Premier League 0 0 0 0 1 0 — 1 0
Total 8 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 13 0
Wealdstone (loan) 2011–12[27] IL Premier Division 22 3 — — 10[a] 2 32 5
Gillingham (loan) 2013–14[24] League One 10 0 — — — 10 0
Stevenage (loan) 2015–16[26] League Two 4 0 — — — 4 0
AFC Wimbledon 2015–16[26] League Two 10 0 — — 1[b] 0 11 0
Plymouth Argyle 2016–17[28] League Two 25 1 3 0 1 0 2[c] 1 31 2
Yeovil Town 2017–18[29] League Two 19 0 3 0 1 0 5[c] 1 28 1
Boreham Wood 2018–19[30] National League 9 0 1 0 — 1[d] 0 11 0
Billericay Town 2018–19[31] National League South 5 1 — — 1[e] 0 6 1
Kingstonian (loan) 2018–19 IL Premier Division 4 1 — — — 4 1
Kings Langley (loan) 2018–19[32] SL Premier Division South 8 0 — — — 8 0
Wealdstone 2019–20[31][32] National League South 19 0 5 0 — 2[f] 0 26 0
2020–21[31] National League 32 2 1 0 — 3[g] 0 36 2
Total 51 2 6 0 — 5 0 62 2
Boreham Wood 2021–22[31] National League 14 0 1 0 — 0 0 15 0
Barnet 2022–23[31] National League 6 0 0 0 — 1[h] 0 7 0
Career total 195 7 15 0 6 0 25 4 241 12
  1. ^ Seven appearances in FA Trophy, two appearances and two goals in Middlesex Senior Cup, one appearance in Isthmian League Premier Division play-offs
  2. ^ Appearance in League Two play-offs
  3. ^ a b Appearances in EFL Trophy
  4. ^ Appearance in Scottish Challenge Cup
  5. ^ Appearance in Essex Senior Cup
  6. ^ One appearance in FA Trophy, one appearance in Middlesex Senior Cup
  7. ^ Appearances in FA Trophy
  8. ^ Appearances in Middlesex Senior Cup

Honours

AFC Wimbledon

Wealdstone

References

  1. ^ "Professional retain list & free transfers 2012/13" (PDF). The Football League. 18 May 2013. p. 25. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  2. ^ "Smith targets Wembley final appearance". Watford Observer. 4 March 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  3. ^ "From training with Inter Milan on reality TV and playing at Anfield to Boreham Wood - The life and times of Connor Smith". The 42. 8 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Watford pair Connor Smith and Britt Assombalonga have joined Wealdstone on loan". Watford Observer. 24 November 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Smith and Assombalonga extend Stones loan". Vital Football. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  6. ^ "Watford boss Sean Dyche stresses that is it only the start for youngsters offered professional contracts". Watford Observer. 22 April 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  7. ^ "Gills Land Championship Midfielder". Gillingham FC. 8 January 2014.
  8. ^ "Connor Smith and Jack Jebb join Stevenage". BBC Sport. 1 September 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  9. ^ "Connor Smith: Plymouth Argyle sign AFC Wimbledon midfielder". BBC Sport. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  10. ^ "AFC Wimbledon 2 Plymouth Argyle 1: Defeat for Pilgrims in EFL Trophy tie". plymouthherald.co.uk. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ "Plymouth Argyle: Jordan Slew & Connor Smith among nine released". BBC Sport. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  12. ^ "Connor Smith: Yeovil Town sign Plymouth Argyle midfielder on free transfer". BBC Sport. 21 June 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  13. ^ "Omar Sowunmi: Yeovil Town defender signs new two-year contract". BBC Sport. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  14. ^ "WE WELCOME CONNOR SMITH". Boreham Wood F.C. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  15. ^ "New Signing". www.billericaytownfc.co.uk. 4 January 2019.
  16. ^ "Connor Smith returns to Wealdstone FC". 2 June 2019.
  17. ^ "Wealdstone 1-0 Boreham Wood". BBC Sport.
  18. ^ "Stones announce retained list". 4 June 2021.
  19. ^ "MADE IN WATFORD NOW IN MANAGEMENT AT BOREHAM WOOD". www.borehamwoodfootballclub.co.uk. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  20. ^ "Bees secure Connor Smith". www.barnetfc.com. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  21. ^ "John Dreyer Joins Burton Albion As Connor Smith Is Promoted To Assistant Manager". www.barnetfc.com. 29 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  22. ^ "Games played by Connor Smith in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  23. ^ "Games played by Connor Smith in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  24. ^ a b "Games played by Connor Smith in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  25. ^ "Games played by Connor Smith in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  26. ^ a b c "Games played by Connor Smith in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  27. ^ "Games played by Britt Assombalonga in 2011/2012 for Wealdstone". Wealdstone F.C. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  28. ^ "Games played by Connor Smith in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  29. ^ "Games played by Connor Smith in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  30. ^ "Games played by Connor Smith in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  31. ^ a b c d e Connor Smith at Soccerway. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  32. ^ a b "Connor Smith Profile". aylesburyunitedfc.co.uk. Aylesbury United F.C. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  33. ^ Pilnick, Brent (30 May 2016). "AFC Wimbledon 2–0 Plymouth Argyle". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 December 2018.