Mark Smith (footballer, born 1964)

Mark Alexander Smith (born 16 December 1964) is a Scottish former footballer who played in the English Football League for Mansfield Town, Reading, Nottingham Forest, Shrewsbury Town and Stoke City. In Scotland he played for Queen's Park, Celtic, Dunfermline Athletic, Hamilton Academical and Ayr United.[1][3]

Mark Smith
Personal information
Full name Mark Alexander Smith[1]
Date of birth (1964-12-16) 16 December 1964 (age 59)[1]
Place of birth Bellshill, Scotland[1]
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2]
Position(s) Winger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1986 Queen's Park 82 (7)
1986–1987 Celtic 6 (0)
1987–1989 Dunfermline Athletic 52 (6)
1989–1990Hamilton Academical (loan) 5 (1)
1989–1990Stoke City (loan) 2 (0)
1990–1991 Nottingham Forest 0 (0)
1990Reading (loan) 3 (0)
1991Mansfield Town (loan) 7 (0)
1991–1995 Shrewsbury Town 78 (4)
1995–1996 Queen's Park 1 (0)
1996 Ayr United 10 (1)
1996–1998 Queen's Park 23 (0)
Total 269 (19)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

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Smith was born in Bellshill and began his career with Queen's Park. After impressing enough he earned the chance to play for Celtic but managed just six appearances in his time at Celtic Park and left for Dunfermline Athletic. Smith spent two seasons at East End Park making 52 league appearances for the "Pars" scoring six goals. During his time with Dunfermline he spent time out on loan at Hamilton Academical and English side Stoke City.[1] He was at Stoke for a month in the 1989–90 season and managed just two appearances for the "Potters". Nottingham Forest were seemingly impressed with Smith's performances and he joined them after his loan at Stoke ended.[1] However, he failed to make an appearance for Forest and was instead loaned out to Third Division Reading and then Mansfield Town before signing for Shrewsbury Town.[1] He enjoyed the best spell of his career with the "Shrews" where he spent four seasons helping the side win the Third Division title in 1993–94. He returned to Scotland to play for old club Queen's Park and after playing for Ayr United he made a third return to Queen's Park.

Career statistics

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[4]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[a] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Stoke City (loan) 1989–90 Second Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Nottingham Forest 1989–90 First Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Reading (loan) 1990–91 Third Division 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Mansfield Town (loan) 1990–91 Third Division 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
Shrewsbury Town 1991–92 Third Division 22 1 1 1 4 0 2 0 29 2
1992–93 Third Division 31 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 35 1
1993–94 Third Division 8 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 11 0
1994–95 Second Division 17 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 18 2
Career total 90 4 4 1 5 0 4 0 103 5

Honours

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Shrewsbury Town

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
  2. ^ Rollin, Jack, ed. (1995). Rothmans Football Yearbook: 1995–96. London: Headline. p. 510. ISBN 0-7472-7823-7. OCLC 60284604.
  3. ^ Lowe, Simon (2000). Stoke City The Modern Era – A Complete Record. Desert Island Books. ISBN 1-874287-39-2.
  4. ^ Mark Smith at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)