Matthew Smith
Personal information
Full name Matthew Robert Smith[1]
Date of birth (1999-11-22) 22 November 1999 (age 24)[2]
Place of birth Redditch, England
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[3]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 St Johnstone
Number 22
Youth career
0000–2013 West Bromwich Albion
2013–2018 Manchester City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2022 Manchester City 0 (0)
2018–2019 → Twente (loan) 34 (2)
2019–2020 → Queens Park Rangers (loan) 8 (0)
2020 → Charlton Athletic (loan) 2 (0)
2020–2021 → Doncaster Rovers (loan) 40 (1)
2021–2022 → Hull City (loan) 9 (0)
2022–2023 Milton Keynes Dons 25 (2)
2023– St Johnstone 21 (0)
International career‡
2015–2016 Wales U17 10 (0)
2016 Wales U19 3 (0)
2017 Wales U21 5 (1)
2018– Wales 19 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 01:16, 28 January 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21:29, 22 September 2022 (UTC)

Matthew Robert Smith (born 22 November 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Scottish Premiership club St Johnstone and the Wales national team.[4]

Club career

Manchester City

Having initially joined the academy of West Bromwich Albion at a young age, in 2013 Smith moved to the academy of Manchester City, where he progressed through several age groups.[5]

In July 2018 at the age of 18, Smith joined Dutch Eerste Divisie club FC Twente on a season-long loan,[6] eventually making 37 appearances and scoring 2 goals, playing a key role in the club's promotion to the Eredivisie.[7] Over the next two seasons, he was again sent out on loan to EFL Championship clubs Queens Park Rangers and Charlton Athletic, as well as EFL League One club Doncaster Rovers, making over 40 appearances for the latter.[7] Ahead of the 2021–22 season, on 6 August 2021 Smith joined EFL Championship club Hull City on another season-long loan.[8]

Milton Keynes Dons

On 31 January 2022, following limited opportunities with Hull, Smith was recalled from his loan and immediately transferred to League One club Milton Keynes Dons on a permanent deal for an undisclosed fee.[7] He made his debut for the club on 8 February 2022, in a 1–1 draw away to Fleetwood Town.[9]

St. Johnstone

In August 2023 Smith joined Scottish Premiership club St Johnstone on a two year contract.[10]

International career

Born in England, Smith qualifies for the Welsh national team through his grandfather who is from Gwent in Wales.[11]

Smith has played for Wales at U17, U19, U21 and senior level, often captaining the side at youth level. He received a first call-up to the senior squad on 20 May 2018.[12]

He made his senior debut for Wales in a friendly 0–0 tie with Mexico, replacing Tom Lawrence after 81 minutes.[13] In May 2021 he was selected for the Wales squad for the delayed UEFA Euro 2020 tournament.[14] In November 2022 he was named in the Wales squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.[15]

Career statistics

Club

As of 18 February 2023[16]
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
Manchester City 2018–19[17] Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2019–20[17] Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2020–21[17] Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2021–22[17] Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Manchester City total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
FC Twente (loan) 2018–19[17] Eerste Divisie 34 2 3 0 — — 37 2
Queens Park Rangers (loan) 2019–20[17] Championship 8 0 0 0 2 0 — 10 0
Charlton Athletic (loan) 2019–20[17] Championship 2 0 — — — 2 0
Doncaster Rovers (loan) 2020–21[18] League One 40 1 3 0 — 0 0 43 1
Hull City (loan) 2021–22[19] Championship 9 0 0 0 1 0 — 10 0
Milton Keynes Dons 2021–22[19] League One 4 0 — — — 4 0
2022–23[20] League One 21 2 0 0 3 0 3[a] 0 27 2
Milton Keynes Dons total 25 2 0 0 3 0 3 0 31 2
St Johnstone 2023–24[21] Scottish Premiership 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career Total 118 5 6 0 6 0 3 0 133 5
  1. ^ One appearance in the EFL Trophy

International

As of 22 September 2022[22]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Wales 2018 4 0
2019 3 0
2020 5 0
2021 3 0
2022 4 0
Total 19 0

Honours

FC Twente

References

  1. ^ "2019/20 Premier League squads confirmed". Premier League. 3 September 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Matt Smith". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  3. ^ "Matt Smith". Milton Keynes Dons F.C. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  4. ^ Matthew Smith at WorldFootball.net
  5. ^ "All about...Matt Smith". Manchester City. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  6. ^ "Matt Smith: Manchester City's Wales midfielder joins FC Twente on loan". BBC. 4 July 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  7. ^ a b c "Matt Smith joins from Man City". Milton Keynes Dons. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  8. ^ "Matt Smith Joins On Loan". Hull City. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  9. ^ "Fleetwood Town 1-1 Milton Keynes Dons". BBC. 8 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  10. ^ Smith joins St Johnstone
  11. ^ "Matt Smith: Wales midfielder signs new Manchester City deal". BBC Sport. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  12. ^ "Manchester City academy midfielder called up by Ryan Giggs for Wales senior squad – City Watch". Archived from the original on 15 August 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  13. ^ "Internationals (Sky Sports)". SkySports.
  14. ^ "Uncapped Colwill in Wales Euro 2020 squad". BBC Sport.
  15. ^ 2022 Wales World Cup squad
  16. ^ "Soccerway profile". Soccerway. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g Matthew Smith at Soccerway. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  18. ^ "Games played by Matthew Smith in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  19. ^ a b "Games played by Matthew Smith in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  20. ^ "Games played by Matthew Smith in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  21. ^ "Games played by Matthew Smith in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  22. ^ "Smith, Matthew". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 17 June 2021.

External links

St Johnstone F.C. – current squad
Wales squads
Categories