Dean Smith (footballer)
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Dean Smith | ||
Personal information | ||
---|---|---|
Date of birth | March 19, 1971 | |
Place of birth | West Bromwich, England | |
Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85m) | |
Playing position | Centre Back | |
Club information | ||
Current club | Leyton Orient (assistant manager) | |
Senior clubs1 | ||
Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
1989–1994 1994–1997 1997–2003 2003–2004 2004–2005 |
Walsall Hereford United Leyton Orient Sheffield Wednesday Port Vale |
142 117 (19) 239 (32) 55 (1) 13 (0) |
(2)
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
Dean Smith (born 19 March 1971 in West Bromwich) is a retired English footballer who is currently assistant manager at Leyton Orient. He played as a central defender.
He started his playing career at Walsall and was later sold for £80,000 to Hereford United. This remains the record transfer fee that the Bulls have paid for a player in their entire history. Smith was captain at Edgar Street during the club's rise to the playoffs in 1995–96 where they were beaten by Darlington. The following season Hereford were relegated from the Football League and Smith departed to Leyton Orient, with a tribunal setting the fee at £42,500. The period between 1995 and 1999 was his most prolific in terms of goals, scoring 34 of which 14 were penalties.
He twice captained Orient to the playoff final before joining Division One side Sheffield Wednesday in February 2003, whom he also captained. However they were relegated at the end of the season, and Smith later signed for Port Vale, on a free transfer, in March 2004. His playing days ended in January 2005 when he left Vale to become youth team coach at his old club Orient. He was promoted to the role of assistant manager at the end of the 2004–05 season.