| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gareth Shaun Smith | ||
| Date of birth | 9 April 1971 | ||
| Place of birth | Leeds, England | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1989–1991 | Halifax Town | 7 | (0) |
| 1991 | Emley | ||
| 1991–2002 | Crewe Alexandra | 400 | (40) |
| 2002–2004 | Hull City | 22 | (1) |
| 2003 | → Stockport County (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2003 | → Carlisle United (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2004 | Rochdale | 13 | (0) |
| 2004–2006 | York City | 19 | (0) |
| Total | 470 | (40) | |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Gareth Shaun Smith (born 9 April 1971) is an English former professional footballer. Smith spent the majority of his career at Crewe Alexandra, playing in 400 League games and more than 460 overall.
The highlight of Smith's career came when he scored the winner for Crewe Alexandra in their 1-0 victory over Brentford in the 1997 Division Two play-off final. This took Crewe into the second tier of English football for the first time in around a century. He had also played in the 1993 Third division final at Wembley, which Crewe lost on penalties to York City. During the first division era Smith played mostly at left back for Crewe and was popular with the supporters despite never being a big star. He won the supporter's player of the year award in 2000–01. Smith eventually left Crewe in the summer of 2002 to join Hull City, where he scored once against Cambridge United,[1] and a year later had two joint testimonial games (alongside fellow player Steve Macauley) at Crewe's Alexandra Stadium against Merseyside clubs Liverpool and Everton.