Craig Mackail-Smith

Craig Mackail-Smith

Mackail-Smith playing for Brighton & Hove Albion in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Craig Anthony Robert Mackail-Smith[1]
Date of birth	(1984-02-25) 25 February 1984[2]
Place of birth	Watford, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[3]
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Brighton & Hove Albion
Number	12
Youth career
1999–2000	St Albans City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2000–2003	St Albans City
2003–2004	Arlesey Town
2004–2007	Dagenham & Redbridge	107	(38)
2007–2011	Peterborough United	185	(80)
2011–	Brighton & Hove Albion	74	(20)
National team‡
2005–2006	England C	7	(4)
2011–	Scotland	7	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:16, 31 December 2013 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 01:16, 31 December 2013 (UTC)

Craig Anthony Robert Mackail-Smith (born 25 February 1984) is a professional footballer who plays for Brighton & Hove Albion as a striker. He has also played for England C and at full international level for Scotland. He was the winner of League One Player of the Year for the 2010–11 season.

Club career

Early career

Born in Watford, Hertfordshire,^[2] Mackail-Smith started his career with the youth system at St Albans City in 1999.^[4] He was released at the end of the 2003 season and joined Arlesey Town where he played for only one season, a highlight of which was knocking Dagenham & Redbridge out of the FA Trophy.^[5]

Dagenham & Redbridge

He later joined Dagenham & Redbridge in 2004 when the club was in the Conference National,^[6] When he was at the club he scored 14 times in the league he picked up five yellow cards and he was also substituted three times.^[7] then on 29 January 2007 he was signed by Peterborough United with Dagenham retaining 15% of any future transfer fee.

Peterborough United

Mackail-Smith had a slow start to life as a Peterborough United striker, playing only rarely in his first season in League Two. But when the side had reached league 1 he took up a regular forward position in the first team and he^[8] linked up well with the then Peterborough United striker Aaron McLean, Mclean would later move to Hull City in 2010.

Steve Claridge posted a scouting report on 23 September 2008 on Mackail-Smith he described him as a "a rampaging Nordic Viking with his long blond hair",^[8] and he was impressed by the way he would pick up the ball and run at defenders, attacking at every opportunity in what Claridge described as a positive way. Mackail Smith managed to rack up 35 goals for the club during the 2010–11 season. The 35 goals that he scored during that season made him the most prolific scorer in England for the season and also bagged him the coveted prize of Football League One Player of the Year Award.^[9][10]

His then manager Darren Ferguson described him as a hard working front man who has an excellent goal to game ratio. When Mackail Smith was interviewed by BBC Sport in June 2011 he was quoted in saying that^[11]“ I want to play at the highest level I can attain and I want to play in the Premier League” and he continued to say that “Though obviously it all depends on what kind of club comes in for me”. On 29 May 2011 Mackail-Smith scored the second goal in the 3–0 win against Huddersfield Town at Old Trafford to clinch promotion for Peterborough United to the Championship.^[12] Prior to Mackail-Smith leaving for Brighton, Mackail Smith was the subject of bids from Premier League clubs including Queens Park Rangers.^[13]

In total Mackail-Smith scored 99 goals over 211 games in all competitions for Peterborough United.

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 4 July 2011 Mackail-Smith joined Brighton & Hove Albion for an initial £2.5million, possibly rising to £3.25million, signing a four-year deal.^[14] Mackail-Smith's first goal for Brighton was a winner against Portsmouth. Mackail-Smith then scored four goals in his next seven matches, including a double in a 3–3 home draw against Leeds United.^[15]

However, Mackail-Smith then hit a goal drought and struggled to score, hitting just one goal between October 2011 and February 2012, on 29 November against Derby County,^[16] although he was still a key player of Brighton's campaign, and was credited with more assists than any other player in the squad during that time.

In one match, a 2–0 win over Bristol City in January, he was elbowed in the face in the penalty area and had to come off with a black eye. He played Brighton's next match despite still having a heavily swollen eye. Mackail-Smith ended his goal drought by coming off the bench against the team he scored two against earlier in the season, Leeds United, to score at close range from a corner. Mackail-Smith's goal put Brighton 1–0 up and they eventually won the match 2–1.^[17]

On his 28th birthday he scored at the Amex Stadium for the first time in five months in a 3–0 win against Ipswich Town, and scored again the next weekend in a 1–1 draw with Doncaster Rovers. In total, Mackail-Smith scored 10 goals for Brighton, and he revealed his disappointment at his goal haul, which he largely put down to adapting to Brighton's passing style of football.^[18]

Mackail-Smith enjoyed a better start to the 2012–13 season, scoring four goals in two games, firstly against Barnsley and then scoring two spectacular goals against Burnley which saw him score a fantastic overhead kick during a 3–1 victory for the Seagulls.

Mackail-Smith has a unique record of scoring against Leeds United in every match he has played against them in his career. This includes five goals in three Brighton-Leeds matches.^{[citation needed]}

International career

England C

While with Dagenham & Redbridge, Mackail-Smith received his first international recognition being called up to play for the England C team, winning seven caps and scoring four goals. He helped England C win the 2005–06 European Challenge Trophy, scoring two goals.

Scotland

Mackail-Smith qualified to play for Scotland through his Edinburgh-born grandmother Margaret and confirmed his interest in playing for Scotland if called up.^[19] On 24 March 2011, he received his first senior international call-up from Scotland boss Craig Levein for a friendly with Brazil on 27 March.^[20] He made his international debut when he came on as a substitute for Kenny Miller in the 87th minute.^[21][22] He scored his first international goal against Liechtenstein on 8 October 2011 in a crucial Euro 2012 qualifier,^[23] and played in the match against Spain in Alicante on 12 October 2011, winning a penalty from which David Goodwillie scored, in a match that Spain won 3–1.

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	8 October 2011	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz	Liechtenstein	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 5 March 2013.

International

As of match played 26 May 2012.^[34]

Honours

Dagenham & Redbridge

• Conference National: 2006–07

Peterborough United

• Football League Two runners-up: 2007–08
• Football League One runners-up: 2008–09
• Football League One play-offs: 2010–11

Individual

• 2007-08 FA Cup Topscorer: 7 goals
• 2010-11 League One Topscorer: 27 goals
• League One Player of the Year: 2010–11^[35]
• PFA Team of the Year: 2010–11 League One^[36]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Craig Mackail-Smith.

• Craig Mackail-Smith career stats at Soccerbase