Jimmy Smith (English footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Dean Smith | ||
| Date of birth | 7 January 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Newham, London, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder Winger |
||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Leyton Orient | ||
| Number | 20 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1996–2005 | Chelsea | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2005–2009 | Chelsea | 1 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | → Queens Park Rangers (loan) | 29 | (6) |
| 2007 | → Norwich City (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) | 12 | (0) |
| 2009 | → Leyton Orient (loan) | 16 | (1) |
| 2009– | Leyton Orient | 98 | (14) |
| National team | |||
| 2002–2003 | England U16 | 1 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | England U17 | 3 | (1) |
| 2005–2006 | England U19 | 7 | (2) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 March 2012. † Appearances (Goals). |
|||
James Dean "Jimmy" Smith (born 7 January 1987 in Newham, London) is a professional footballer who plays for Leyton Orient.
Contents |
[edit] Career
[edit] Chelsea
Smith joined the Chelsea Academy aged nine and worked his way through the youth squads until signing a professional deal at 18,[1] joining the reserve team squad.[2] An attacking midfielder by trade, who can also play on both wings,[3] he finished as top scorer from the Chelsea reserves for the 2005–06 season, predominantly playing in his preferred attacking midfield role.[2] He made his only appearance for the Chelsea first team in the last game of the 2005–06 Premiership season, coming on as a substitute for Ricardo Carvalho against Newcastle United.
[edit] Queens Park Rangers
On 27 September 2006, Smith joined Queens Park Rangers (QPR) on loan for an initial month. During that spell he impressed, scoring twice in his first two games including a goal on his home debut at Loftus Road in the 3–3 draw with Norwich City. By October, the QPR management announced they were to extend his loan spell by a further two months, and it was later extended again to the end of the season.
[edit] Norwich City
On 19 July 2007, he signed on loan for Championship side Norwich City, a deal that ran until the end of December.[4] However, on 25 July 2007, Smith sustained a worrying calf injury in Norwich's pre-season friendly with FC Zwolle, which kept him out of action for almost three months.
Smith finally made his competitive debut for Norwich on 23 October 2007, as a substitute in a 2–1 defeat to Burnley at Turf Moor.
The final appearance of his loan spell with The Canaries came in their 1–1 home draw vs Wolverhampton Wanderers on 29 December 2007. Smith has largely disappointed in his loan spell, however, he has been played out of position on the right of a four man midfield for much of his time at the club. After the game with Wolves, Norwich manager Glenn Roeder confirmed he had been in talks with Chelsea sporting director Frank Arnesen and that his club hoped to extend Smith's time there until the end of the season. Norwich however failed to reach a deal for the extension of Smith's loan contract and so on the 4 January 2008, he returned to Chelsea,[5] where he became a regular feature of the reserves team.
[edit] Sheffield Wednesday
In June 2008, it was reported that Championship side Sheffield Wednesday were interested in Smith.[6] It was later announced on 1 July 2008 that the midfielder would be joining the Owls on a loan deal until 10 January 2009.[7] Smith had infrequent appearances in his first three months with Wednesday, starting only three games up to the end of October, before an away game at Birmingham City saw him sent off after 65 minutes. After serving a four match ban he was unable to regularly break into the Sheffield Wednesday first team and eventually returned to Chelsea following the expiry of the loan deal in early January 2009.
[edit] Leyton Orient
Later in the transfer window, Smith moved on loan to Leyton Orient for the remainder of the season,[3] where he went on to make 16 appearances for the O's, scoring his first goal for the club, the winner against Colchester United in April 2009.[8] While he was due to return to Chelsea at the end of the season, he decided to make the Orient move permanent, leaving on a free transfer and signing a two-year deal with the East Londoners.[9] Smith was a vital player in Orient's fantastic FA Cup run in 2011 where the League 1 club reached the fifth round. Smith also helped his side to an impressive finish in the npower League 1 season, but Orient could not manage to finish in a playoff place.
[edit] References
- ^ "Jimmy Smith profile". Chelsea F.C.. Archived from the original on 3 February 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080203115943/http://www.chelseafc.com/page/TheReservesProfiles/0,,10268~930512,00.html. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
- ^ a b "Smith heads East". Chelsea F.C.. 10 July 2009. http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~1718848,00.html. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
- ^ a b "Orient snap up Chelsea midfielder". BBC Sport. 2 February 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/leyton_orient/7865919.stm. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
- ^ "Grant snaps up Chelsea midfielder". Norwich City F.C.. 19 July 2007. http://www.canaries.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetails/0,,10355~1075386,00.html. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
- ^ "Smith returns to Chelsea". Norwich City F.C.. 4 January 2007. http://www.canaries.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetails/0,,10355~1206075,00.html. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
- ^ "Owls net Chelsea midfielder Smith". BBC Sport. July 2, 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sheff_wed/7485594.stm. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
- ^ "Chelsea starlet heads for Hillsborough". Sheffield Wednesday F.C.. 1 July 2008. http://www.swfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/0,,10304~1337047,00.html. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
- ^ "Leyton Orient 2–1 Colchester". BBC Sport. 11 April 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/7979559.stm. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
- ^ "Smith leaves Chelsea for Orient". BBC Sport. 10 July 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/leyton_orient/8144300.stm. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
[edit] External links
- Jimmy Smith player profile at chelseafc.com
- Jimmy Smith player profile at swfc.co.uk
- Jimmy Smith player profile at qpr.co.uk
- Jimmy Smith career stats at Soccerbase
|
|||||
