Matty Smith (footballer, born 1997)

Matthew Smith (born 13 March 1997) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a forward for League of Ireland Premier Division side St Patrick's Athletic. He started his career with Dundee United and made his first team debut in May 2016, and subsequently had loan periods with Montrose and Cove Rangers before moving to Ireland with Waterford.

Matty Smith
Personal information
Full name Matthew Smith
Date of birth (1997-03-13) 13 March 1997
Place of birth Dundee, Scotland
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 St Patrick's Athletic
Number 12
Youth career
Fairmuir Boys Club
Dundee United Social Club
Aberdeen
Celtic
St Johnstone
2014–2016 Dundee United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2020 Dundee United 37 (5)
2017 → Montrose (loan) 18 (2)
2019–2020 → Cove Rangers (loan) 9 (2)
2020 Waterford 18 (2)
2021– St Patrick's Athletic 0 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13 January 2021

Early life

Matty Smith was born in Dundee on 13 March 1997. He attended Monifieth High School. He played youth football for St Johnstone for seven years, prior to joining Dundee United.[1]

Playing career

Smith signed professionally for Dundee United in July 2014. He made his first team debut against Partick Thistle in a Scottish Premiership match on 10 May 2016.[2]

In January 2017, he was sent on loan to Scottish League Two side Montrose until the end of the 2016–17 season.[3] He made his debut for Montrose in a 2-1 victory at home to Cowdenbeath where he was also sent off.[4]

Smith was given a first team chance for Dundee United in July 2017 due to injuries to other forwards. He scored his first goal for the club against Cowdenbeath in the Scottish League Cup,[5] but an injury in training ruled him out of the subsequent Dundee derby and for the next six weeks.[6] His first league goal for United came in a 2–1 defeat at Livingston in February 2018.[7] A 20-yard strike he scored in a 3-1 victory against Queen of the South was voted Dundee United's goal of the 2017-2018 season at the club's annual awards.[8] On 29 May 2018, it was announced that Smith had signed an extension to his contact at Dundee United until May 2020.[8] The club's manager Csaba László welcomed the news and commented Smith had 'shown he can be an essential player for us.[8]

On 15 August 2019, Smith joined Cove Rangers on loan until January 2020.[9] Smith left Dundee United in January 2020 and signed for Irish club Waterford.[10] In January 2021 he was transferred from Waterford to another Irish club, St Patrick's Athletic.[11]

Career statistics
As of 2 February 2021[12]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Dundee United 2015–16[13] Scottish Premiership 2000000020
2016–17[14] Scottish Championship 0000000000
Montrose (loan) 2016–17[14] Scottish League Two 16200002[lower-alpha 1]0182
Dundee United 2017–18[15] Scottish Championship 17310113[lower-alpha 2]0224
2018–19[16] 8000302[lower-alpha 3]1131
2019–20[17] 0000000000
Dundee United Total 273104151375
Cove Rangers (loan) 2019–20[17] Scottish League Two 8210001[lower-alpha 3]0102
Waterford 2020[18] League of Ireland Premier Division 18210——192
St Patrick's Athletic 2021[19] 0000——00
Career Total 6993041818411
  1. Appearances in the League One play-offs
  2. Two appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup and one appearance in the Scottish Premiership play-offs
  3. Appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup

References
  1. "Development squad - Matthew Smith". Dundee United F.C. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  2. Duthie, Tom (10 May 2016). "Dundee United 3 Partick 3: United fight back to earn a point". Evening Telegraph. Dundee. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  3. "Loan out: Matty Smith joins Montrose". Dundee United FC. 13 January 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  4. http://www.montrosefc.co.uk/index.php/48-match-details/season-2016-17/1099-montrose-v-cowdenbeath-21-01-17-lineups
  5. Duthie, Tom (25 July 2017). "Dundee United kid Matty Smith in line for a derby start". Evening Telegraph. Dundee. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  6. Duthie, Tom (7 October 2017). "Young striker Matty Smith looking to take his chance for Dundee United in cup tie against Linfield". Evening Telegraph. Dundee. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  7. Roache, Ian (23 February 2018). "Livingston 2 Dundee United 1: Ryan Hardie hammer blow as Tangerines lose last-gasp goal". The Courier. Dundee. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  8. "Matty Smith Extends Contract". dundeeunitedfc.co.uk. Dundee United FC. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  9. "Matty Smith Joins Cove on Loan". The Official Website of Dundee United Football Club. Dundee United Football Club. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  10. "MATTY SMITH JOINS WATERFORD". dundeeunitedfc.co.uk. Dundee United FC. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  11. O'Hehir, Paul (13 January 2021). "Matty Smith swaps Waterford for St Pat's". Irish Mirror. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  12. "Scotland – M.Smith". Ie.soccerway.com. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  13. "Games played by Matthew Smith in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  14. "Games played by Matty Smith in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  15. "Games played by Matty Smith in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  16. "Games played by Matty Smith in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  17. "Games played by Matty Smith in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  18. https://ie.soccerway.com/players/matthew-smith/444168/
  19. https://ie.soccerway.com/players/matthew-smith/444168/
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