Ben Smith (midfielder)

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For other uses, see Ben Smith (disambiguation).

Personal information
Ben Smith
Full name	Benjamin Peter Smith
Date of birth	November 23, 1978 (age 28)
Place of birth	Chelmsford, England
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75m)
Nickname	Smudger
Playing position	Midfield
Club information
Current club	Hereford United
Number	25
Youth clubs
	Arsenal
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1995-1996 1996-1998 1998-2001 2001-2002 2002-2004 2004-2006 2006-2007 2007-	Arsenal Reading Yeovil Town Southend United Hereford United Shrewsbury Town Weymouth Hereford United	0 (0) 1 (0) 71 (14) 1 (0) 52 (18) 24 (4) 21 (7) 10 (1)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 March 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Ben Smith (born November 23, 1978 in Chelmsford, Essex) is an English footballer who currently plays for Hereford United as a midfielder.

He began his career at Arsenal where he signed his first professional contract in 1995, but could not break into the first team and moved to Reading, where he took part in his first professional match against Manchester City. However, after making just one league appearance he moved to Yeovil Town where he played over 70 league games. He then spent the 2001-2002 season with Southend United but struggled to make an impact and left for Hereford United, for whom he made 52 league appearances and scored 18 goals in a two-season-long spell. An injury to his shoulder meant he required an operation in March 2004, shortly before joining Shrewsbury Town. He made 24 league appearances for the Shropshire club. He joined Weymouth in July 2006 after reportedly turning down an offer to return to Hereford United, who had recently been promoted to the Football League.

In January 2007 the entire Weymouth squad was transfer listed, due to financial problems. Several clubs expressed an interest in signing Smith which prompted a frenzy of speculation on various internet discussion forums, in particular those associated with Smith's former club Hereford United. Amid this speculation, Weymouth then announced that their remaining players were no longer transfer listed, leaving Smith's future up in the air.

On 25 January 2007, Weymouth confirmed that Ben Smith had rejoined Hereford United for an undisclosed fee on a 2 and a half year contract. This was the first transfer fee that the Bulls had paid since striker Neil Grayson joined, nearly a decade ago.

[edit] See also

Hereford United Player Statistics 2006-07

Hereford United F.C. - Current Squad
1 Brown \| 2 Travis \| 3 Thomas \| 4 Rose \| 5 Mkandawire \| 6 Purdie \| 8 Ferrell \| 9 Sills \| 10 Fleetwood \| 12 Connell \| 14 Thompson \| 15 Gwynne \| 16 Williams \| 17 Giles \| 18 McClenahan \| 19 Palmer \| 20 Jeannin \| 21 Webb \| 22 Fitzpatrick \| 23 Gulliver \| 24 Guinan \| 25 Smith \| 28 Beckwith \| 30 Lewis \| 31 Jennings \| Manager: Turner