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 Smith in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alan Martin Smith[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1962-11-21)21 November 1962 (age 63)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Hollywood,Worcestershire, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1981–1982 | Alvechurch | ||
| 1982–1987 | Leicester City | 200 | (76) |
| 1987–1995 | Arsenal | 264 | (86) |
| Total | 464 | (162) | |
| International career | |||
| 1982 | England C | 3 | (0) |
| 1988–1992 | England | 13 | (2) |
| 1990–1992 | England B | 4 | (4) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Alan Martin Smith (born 21 November 1962) is an Englishfootball commentator and former player who played as astriker.[3] He played forLeicester City andArsenal in a career that spanned over a decade. A co-commentator forSky Sports, Smith has also provided his voice to the football video game seriesFIFA alongsideMartin Tyler from 2011 until 2019.[4]
Smith was Arsenal's top scorer for four consecutive seasons, and scored the first goal in Arsenal's2–0 victory atAnfield 26 May1989 which saw them lift that season's league championship. Smith then won another league title with Arsenal in1991 as well as aLeague Cup andFA Cup Double two years later. He also struck the sole goal in Arsenal's1994 European Cup Winners' Cup final victory againstParma.[5]
Smith was capped 13 times for theEngland national team and represented the nation atUEFA Euro 1992.
He has been writing forThe Daily Telegraph andEvening Standard, and released his autobiographyHeads Up: My Life Story in 2018.
Smith started his career at non-leagueAlvechurch in north-east Worcestershire, where he could combine football, with studying for a degree in modern languages, his subjects being French, German and Spanish, atCoventry Polytechnic.
He then signed professional forms withLeicester City in June 1982. In his first season, he scored 13 goals in partnership withGary Lineker, as the Foxes won promotion to theFirst Division. He spent five seasons at Leicester, scoring 84 goals in 217 appearances. In Smith's final season with the club they were relegated and he signed for Arsenal for £850,000 in March 1987, but was then loaned back to Leicester for the rest of the season.[6][7]
Smith was one ofGeorge Graham's first major signings, and despite a hat-trick on 29 August 1987 againstPortsmouth at Highbury, Smith endured a difficult start to his Arsenal career, at one point going a full two months without scoring. But Smith would prove his worth in the long term, and topped their scoring charts in four of his first five seasons.[8] The purchase of wingerBrian Marwood in March 1988 proved to be a significant turning point for Smith and Arsenal, Marwood being the most frequent supplier of his goals.[9][10] The first season ended with aLittlewoods Cup final appearance at Wembley where he scored in a 3-2 defeat byLuton.
The following season Smith won his firstGolden Boot with 23 goals from 36 League games, the most important being the first goal in Arsenal's2-0 victory atAnfield on 26 May 1989 which saw them lift that season's league championship.1989-90 was a disappointing season both for the club and for Alan Smith goals wise. He only scored 13 goals in all competitions.
Smith was top scorer again when Arsenal claimed the title in1990-91 and won his second Golden Boot. The league winning side were deducted two points for abrawl against Manchester United, still won the league losing only one game.[11]
But then the goals dried up for Smith, and he was battled withKevin Campbell for the position alongsideIan Wright. He was an unused substitute in theLeague Cup triumph 1993 againstSheffield Wednesday after scoring twice in the 3-1 semi-final first leg atCrystal Palace. But he played in theFA Cup success 1993, also against Sheffield Wednesday, when he was booked for the first and only time in his career. Smith never scored a more important or perfectly struck goal than the one in the1994 European Cup Winners' Cup final, his left-foot shot in Copenhagen stunnedParma.[12][13][14]
His last goal for Arsenal came againstManchester City 12 December 1994 in a 2-1 win atMaine Road, and his last appearance for Arsenal came in the FA-cup third round, 7 January 1995 in a goalless draw againstMillwall atThe Den. A knee injury forced him to retire aged 32. Several clubs, includingWatford, had expressed an interest in signing Smith just before he announced an end to his playing days in July 1995.[15][16][17][18]
Smith scored 115 goals for Arsenal. Smith has been ranked at 27th within the club's listing of the 50 greatest Gunners of all time.[3][19][20]
Smith gained his first full England cap againstSaudi Arabia 16 November 1988.Steve Bull, then of Second Division sideWolverhampton Wanderers, was selected bySir Bobby Robson for1990 FIFA World Cup. Smith had just plundered ten goals in 38 games to help Arsenal finish fourth in Division One, but Bull's 24 goals in 42 games in the Second Division caught Robson's eye and Smith was omitted in favour of Bull.[21]
WhenGraham Taylor took over, Smith returned to the national team and his first goal came in a Friendly match againstSoviet Union atWembley 21 May 1991.[22] His second goal came againstTurkey in theEuro 1992 qualifying group match at Wembley, 16 October 1991, in a 1–0 win. The last of his 13 caps came when he replaced Gary Lineker in the 2–1 defeat bySweden in theUEFA Euro 1992.[23]
Smith is currently a regularco-commentator and occasional studiopundit forSky Sports for thePremier League coverage. In 2011, he commentated on theChampions League final alongsideMartin Tyler for theEnglish–language world feed commentary and then in 2015, he became the regular co-commentator for the Champions League competition proper with Tyler except the final. In 2022, he commentated onFIFA World Cup 2022 final alongsidePeter Drury for theEnglish-language world feed commentary.
On 30 June 2011,EA Sports announced that Smith would replaceAndy Gray asMartin Tyler's partner in commentating inFIFA 12. The pair commentated on the games up untilFIFA 20 but they were both cut from the games forFIFA 21. Smith said onTwitter "Yes, gutted not to be involved with @EASPORTSFIFA anymore. For Martin Tyler and myself, it was an honour to voice the game for so long. But nothing lasts forever."[24]
Tall and slim, Alan Smith was well known for his headers,[25] but during his career he demonstrated all round skills, including a deft first touch and the ability to chest the ball down or head it on for teammates to run onto.[26] Though primarily left-footed, he scored a number of goals with his right foot.[27] He was also known for his hold-up play.[28]
He scored in a number of important games for Arsenal, including the1994 European Cup Winners' Cup final and scored one goal in Arsenal's decisive victory atAnfield in 1989.[3] Former Arsenal marksmanOlivier Giroud has been compared to Smith.[29]
| Season | Club | Division | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Leicester City | 1982–83 | Second Division | 39 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 41 | 14 | ||
| 1983–84 | First Division | 40 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 43 | 16 | |||
| 1984–85 | First Division | 39 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 45 | 15 | |||
| 1985–86 | First Division | 40 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 42 | 19 | |||
| 1986–87 | First Division | 42 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | — | — | 46 | 20 | |||
| Total | 200 | 76 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 4 | — | — | 217 | 84 | ||||
| Arsenal | 1987–88 | First Division | 39 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 4 | — | — | 50 | 16 | ||
| 1988–89 | First Division | 36 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | — | 3[a] | 0 | 46 | 25 | ||
| 1989–90 | First Division | 38 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | — | — | 44 | 13 | |||
| 1990–91 | First Division | 37 | 22 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 3 | — | — | 49 | 27 | |||
| 1991–92 | First Division | 39 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4[b] | 4 | 1[c] | 0 | 47 | 17 | |
| 1992–93 | Premier League | 31 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 2 | — | — | 45 | 6 | |||
| 1993–94 | Premier League | 25 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 9[d] | 2 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 7 | |
| 1994–95 | Premier League | 19 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4[d] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 4 | |
| Total | 264 | 86 | 26 | 6 | 38 | 16 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 351 | 115 | ||
| Career total | 464 | 162 | 34 | 10 | 47 | 20 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 568 | 199 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 1988 | 1 | 0 |
| 1989 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1991 | 6 | 2 | |
| 1992 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 13 | 2 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 May 1991 | Wembley Stadium, London, United Kingdom |  Soviet Union | 1–1 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 2 | 16 October 1991 | Wembley Stadium, London, United Kingdom |  Turkey | 1–0 | 1–0 | UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying |
Arsenal[3]
Individual
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