Andy_Smith_(footballer,_born_1968)

Andy Smith (footballer, born 1968)

Andy Smith (footballer, born 1968)

Scottish footballer

Andrew Mark Smith (born 27 November 1968) is a retired Scottish footballer who played as a striker, and most recently was a temporary manager of Gretna with Mick Wadsworth.

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Career

Born in Aberdeen and a product of the Scottish Highland Football League, Smith's first senior club was Huntly. He subsequently transferred to Peterhead within the Highland League, prior to moving to Airdrieonians in the Scottish Football League.[2]

He briefly played in Canada with the Calgary Kickers of the Canadian Soccer League.[3]

He scored Airdrie's goal in the 1992 Scottish Cup Final against Rangers after coming on as a substitute (an eventual 2–1 defeat),[4] and subsequently played in the 1992–93 European Cup Winners' Cup against Sparta Prague.[5] In November 1994, he again came off the bench to score in a cup final, this time the winner in a 3–2 extra-time victory over Dundee in the 1994 Scottish Challenge Cup Final,[6] and at the end of that season appeared in the 1995 Scottish Cup Final versus Celtic,[7] but the Diamonds also lost on that occasion.

Smith joined Dunfermline Athletic in 1995 for £70,000, breaking his leg on his debut in a pre-season friendly[8] but recovering to score several times including the goal which confirmed the club's promotion to the Premier Division.[9] During the Pars' three-year spell in the top tier he scored 34 times, and in January 1998 he got five of his team's goals in a 7–2 Scottish Cup win over amateurs Edinburgh City.[10]

He then had a spell at Kilmarnock,[11] being brought in as cover for injured veteran Ally McCoist for a £150,000 transfer fee in January 2000 after a short loan period over the month prior,[12][8] but he failed to make an impact during the rest of the season, scoring only once before McCoist returned and eventually was loaned to Ross County before being released, joining Raith Rovers in 2001.[13] During his time in Kirkcaldy, the club were relegated[14] but then won the Scottish Second Division championship.[8]

Smith joined Clyde in summer 2003,[15] and formed a good partnership with Ian Harty.[16] Despite age catching up on him, Smith scored 10 league goals for the club, and almost won promotion to the Scottish Premier League, losing out to champions Inverness Caledonian Thistle by one point.[8]

He then joined Gretna where he made a handful of appearances and helped them win the Scottish Third Division. He retired from playing in 2005, though remained at Gretna in a coaching role until the club folded in 2008.[17]

Personal life

Smith had a role as a footballer in the 2000 film A Shot at Glory, which featured Robert Duvall, Michael Keaton and Ally McCoist. Smith's character scores for the fictional club Kilnockie in the Scottish Cup semi-final (against Kilmarnock, the team he and McCoist played for in real life at the time) to send them through to play Rangers at Hampden Park.

He settled in the west of Scotland and spent time working as a football development officer.

Andy's son Jack is also a footballer and a striker, who trained as a youth with St Mirren and was playing for East Kilbride in the Lowland Football League (fifth tier) in 2016.[18]

Honours

Peterhead Highland League: 1988–89

Airdrieonians

Dunfermline Athletic

Raith Rovers

Gretna

Individual

Airdrieonians Hall of Fame inductee[19]

References

  1. [1]
    "Scotland B player Andy Smith". Fitbastats. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  2. [2]
    "Andy Smith". Post War English & Scottish Football League A-Z Players Transfer Database. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  3. [3]
    "Andy Smith soccer Statistics on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  4. [4]
    "Scottish Cup final 25 years on: Airdrie legend Andy Smith believes cup final is a huge 'what if?' moment". Daily Record. 2 June 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  5. [5]
    "Airdrie pay the penalty". The Herald. 1 October 1992. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  6. [6]
    Kenny Ross (2017). Dundee FC On This Day: History, Facts & Figures from Every Day of the Year. Pitch Publishing. ISBN 9781785313486.
  7. [7]
    Shaw, Phil (29 May 1995). "Silverware exposes cloud over Celtic". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  8. [8]
    "Andy Smith". Dunfermline Athletic F.C. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  9. [9]
    "Petrie requires a scarf of many colours". Scottish Professional Football League. 11 February 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  10. [10]
    "Weekend in numbers". Scottish Professional Football League. 6 March 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  11. [11]
    "Kilmarnock player Andy Smith". Fitbastats. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  12. [12]
    "Season Diary 1999-2000". KillieFC. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  13. [13]
    "Smith and Airdrie men on move". BBC Sport. 31 March 2001. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  14. [14]
    "Smith stays with Raith". BBC Sport. 15 June 2002. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  15. [15]
    "Clyde sign veteran Smith". BBC Sport. 7 August 2003. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  16. [16]
    "Andy's glad he stayed at Clyde". Cumbernauld News. 17 February 2004. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  17. [17]
    "SPL steps in with more money to save Gretna". The Scotsman. 4 April 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  18. [18]
    "Andy Smith: My son Jack is a better player than I was and Celtic should beware". Evening Times. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  19. [19]
    "Hall of Fame". airdriefc.com. Airdrieonians F.C. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
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