Allan Smart

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Allan Smart
Personal information
Full name Allan Andrew Colin Smart
Date of birth (1974-07-08) 8 July 1974 (age 47)
Place of birth Perth, Scotland
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1994 Caledonian
1994 Caledonian Thistle 4 (0)
1994–1996 Preston North End 21 (6)
1995 → Carlisle United (loan) 4 (0)
1996 → Northampton Town (loan) 1 (0)
1996–1998 Carlisle United 45 (16)
1998–2001 Watford 56 (12)
2001 → Hibernian (loan) 5 (1)
2001 → Stoke City (loan) 2 (0)
2001–2002 Oldham Athletic 21 (6)
2002–2003 Dundee United 17 (0)
2003–2004 Crewe Alexandra 6 (0)
2004–2005 Milton Keynes Dons 18 (4)
2005–2006 Bury 13 (1)
2006–2007 Portadown 20 (5)
2007–2008 Burscough
2009 Southport
Total 229 (51)
Teams managed
2014–2015 Daventry Town
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Allan Andrew Colin Smart (born 8 July 1974) is a Scottish football manager and former player who most recently managed Southern Football League club Daventry Town, where he also briefly served as club chairman.[1]

In a 16-year playing career, Smart appeared as a Striker for Caledonian, Caledonian Thistle, Preston North End, Carlisle United, Northampton Town, Watford, Hibernian, Stoke City, Oldham Athletic, Dundee United, Crewe Alexandra, Milton Keynes Dons, Bury, Portadown, Burscough and Southport.

Career[]

Smart began his career with junior club Balbeggie and had spells with St Johnstone and Brechin City, but without appearing for either's first team. In 1993, he joined Highland League club Inverness Caledonian; the following year Smart made his Scottish League debut following the merger which created Inverness Caledonian Thistle with entry into the Scottish League Third Division, but was soon sold to Preston North End for a fee of £15000. Here he was sent out on loan to a number of clubs to gain experience and match practice. These clubs included Carlisle United and Northampton Town. In between these loan deals he also managed to make first team appearances for Preston. However, after just thirty-one appearances for the club he was signed permanently by Carlisle in 1996.

During his time at Carlisle he helped them to promotion to the English Second Division including key goals against Lincoln City in a 1–0 victory and in a 5–1 victory over Torquay United. In the following season he did enough to impress over two league fixtures against Watford that Hornets manager, Graham Taylor, would pay £100,000 for his signature in 1998.

When at Watford he helped them get promoted to the Premier League for the 1999–2000 season. He scored the second goal after coming on as a substitute in Watford's 2–0 victory against Bolton in the 1999 Football League First Division play-off Final.[2] Watford struggled to get a foot hold in the division as they finished 20th with just 24 points. However Smart still managed to score goals, including the winner against Chelsea[3] and the equaliser against Tottenham Hotspur.[4] He stayed with the club until November 2001, after two loan moves to Hibernian (where he scored once against St Johnstone)[5] and Stoke City respectively. In his second and final appearance for Stoke he was sent off after a clash with Oldham's Darren Sheridan on 21 November 2001.[6] He then signed for Oldham Athletic for a fee of £225,000 on 30 November 2001 and would ironically line up alongside Sheridan for his Oldham debut against Cardiff on 1 December 2001,[7] a matter of days after their initial altercation.

His time at Oldham was both frustrating and disappointing for Smart, as he managed just twenty-one appearances during his season-long stay at the club, before being released at the end of the season. Since leaving Oldham in 2002, he had spells at Dundee United, Crewe Alexandra, MK Dons and Bury (where he scored once against Leyton Orient)[8] before signing for Portadown in the close season of 2006.

In July 2007, Smart joined Conference North side Burscough on a season-long loan.[9] When the loan deal expired, Smart made the move permanent as his Portadown contract had also expired. After the departure of manager Liam Watson from Burscough, Smart became the assistant manager at the club, whilst also remaining on the playing staff. In September 2009, he took up a full-time job, as Head of Youth Development at Southport, while temporarily remaining as player and assistant manager part-time at Burscough.

In November 2014, Smart took on his first position as a manager after replacing Darran Foster at Southern League Division One Central side Daventry Town.[10]

After the shock departure of chairman Iain Humphrey in June 2015, Smart relinquished his role as manager to become Daventry Town's new chairman.[11]

Personal life[]

Smart is divorced with four children.[12] He is the son of a retired policeman.

In December 2001, Smart was involved in an incident after Oldham Athletic's Christmas party which saw him grab the throat of a barman, headbutt a fan of the club and cause £3,049 of damage to some hotel doors. In March 2002 he was arrested for assaulting a police officer in a brawl outside a police station. He subsequently pled guilty to affray, damaging property and assault with intent to resist arrest and was ordered to pay a £2,350 in compensation and costs.[13]

In March 2017, Smart pled guilty to a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm at Swindon Crown Court after he bit off the earlobe of a friend in April 2016. He was ordered to pay a fine of £1,500 and do 300 hours of community work.[14]

Career statistics[]

Source:[15]

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[A] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Preston North End 1994–95 Third Division 19 6 2 1 0 0 1 0 22 7
1995–96 Third Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0
Total 21 6 2 1 0 0 2 0 25 7
Carlisle United (loan) 1995–96 Second Division 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Northampton Town (loan) 1996–97 Third Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Carlisle United 1996–97 Third Division 28 10 4 0 0 0 5 0 37 10
1997–98 Second Division 16 6 0 0 1 1 0 0 17 7
Total 44 16 4 0 1 1 5 0 54 17
Watford 1998–99 First Division 35 7 1 0 1 0 3 1 40 8
1999–2000 Premier League 14 5 0 0 2 0 0 0 16 5
2000–01 First Division 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0
2001–02 First Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 57 12 1 0 3 0 3 1 64 13
Hibernian (loan) 2001–02 Scottish Premier League 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1
Stoke City (loan) 2001–02 Second Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Oldham Athletic 2001–02 Second Division 21 6 1 0 0 0 2 1 24 7
Dundee United 2002–03 Scottish Premier League 17 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 18 0
Crewe Alexandra 2003–04 First Division 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
Milton Keynes Dons 2004–05 League One 18 4 2 1 2 1 0 0 22 6
Bury 2005–06 League Two 13 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 14 1
Career total 209 46 10 2 8 2 12 2 239 52
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League Trophy and Football League play-offs.

Honours[]

with Carlisle United
  • Football League Trophy winner: 1997

References[]

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "Watford back in the big time". BBC Sport. 31 May 1999. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  3. ^ Longmore, Andrew (18 September 1999). "Smart dumbfounds Chelsea". The Independent. London. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
  4. ^ "Smart snatches point". BBC. 25 March 2000. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  5. ^ "Hibs thump sad Saints". BBC. 23 September 2001. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
  6. ^ "Stoke 0–0 Oldham". BBC. 21 November 2001. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  7. ^ "Cardiff 3–1 Oldham". BBC. 1 December 2001. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  8. ^ "Bury 1–2 Leyton Orient". BBC. 9 August 2005. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
  9. ^ "Smart exits Ports for Burscough". BBC Sport. 16 July 2007. Retrieved 2 September 2008.
  10. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 November 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ^ "Blow for Daventry as Chairman Resigns". Pitchero Non-League. 24 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  12. ^ "Former Watford player Allan Smart contemplated ending it all". Watford Observer. 7 September 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  13. ^ "Former Latics striker escapes jail term for drunken hotel brawl". Manchester Evening News. 19 June 2005. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  14. ^ "Former Watford striker Allan Smart spared jail after biting friend's ear off". Watford Observer. 6 March 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  15. ^ Allan Smart at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

External links[]

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