Alan Smith is a professional football player born on October 28, 1980 in Rothwell, which is located in Leeds, England. He completed his primary education from Rothwell Victoria Juniors School and went to Rodillian High school for his higher education.
Alan Smith has represented England at the international level and started out by being a part of the England Under-21 team. He has represented the team in10 games and had netted three goals during the 1991-2001 seasons. He received his first call to join the England’s senior squad in 2001 and made his debut in May, the same year. Alan Smith was a part of this side till 2007 and won 19 international caps that included one goal-scoring game. On May 26, 2007, he was called for an England “B” match against Albania and scored the first goal in England’s 3-1 win. Following this performance, Alan Smith was named in the senior England team that played against Brazil on June 1, 2007.
Alan Smith started his football career by playing at Leeds United’s youth team during the 1997-1998 season. He then graduated to the senior team and made his senior Premiership debut when he was called in as a substitute in a match against Liverpool at Anfield. During this match, Alan Smith scored his first goal for the club with his first touch of the ball and this performance made him the manager’s first-choice striker along with Jimmy Floyd. Midway through his tenure, he was switched to midfield to accommodate new signings and he proved his versatility by adapting quickly to the new position. Alan Smith had become a hero for Leeds United’s fans and had won the "Supporter's Player of the Year" award for two consecutive years, 2003 and 2004. Overall, he had made 172 appearances for the club and had thirty-eight goals to his credit.
In 2004, Alan Smith signed to play for Leeds United’s bitter rivals, Manchester United, and made his first appearance for this club on August 8, 2004 in a Community Shield match against Arsenal. In this match, he also netted his first goal for the club with a brilliant volley in the fifty fifth minute and went on to establish his reputation as a striker. For his long-range strikes and “poacher”-type goals, he is compared with the Dutch player, Ruud van Nistelrooy. During the summer of 2005, it was said that Manchester United’s manager had plans of making Alan Smith as the next successor to Roy Keane in the midfield region. He stayed with the club till 2007 and featured in 61 games scoring on seven occasions.
On August 3, 2007 Newcastle United confirmed that they had bought Alan Smith on a £6 million worth five-year contract and had given him the squad number seventeen. On his very first appearance for this club, he scored the winning goal in a friendly match against Sampdoria. As of 2008, Alan Smith has played 19 games for the club and has increased his overall club-goals tally by one goal.
Alan Smith is known on the field by many nicknames, which include “Smithy”, “Chilli Pepper”, “Smudger”, “Yorkshire Terrier” and “Smudge.”
