Andy Smith (footballer, born 1980)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the former Scottish footballer, see Andy Smith (footballer born 1968)

Andy Smith born 25 September 1980 in Lisburn is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Portadown.

[edit] Club Career

Andy started in the youth team of Ballyclare before signing for Sheffield United in 1999 , he made his debut against Lincoln City on the 5 September 2000 in the league cup. He had a loan spell at Bury before signing for Glenavon then for Glentoran in 2002.

He was a prolific scorer with Glentoran which made Preston North End pay £130,000 to bring him back to England in 2004.

Andy failed to score for Preston North End in three years and had loan spells at Stockport County and Motherwell in which he also didn't score.

He joined Cheltenham Town on loan on 2nd November 2006, but returned to Preston North End, again without scoring, before being released on a free transfer at the end of January 2007. He spent the next six months with Bristol City.

He signed for Portadown in October 2007. Smith left Portadown in December 2007 when his short term contract ended. After failing to get back into full time football with Portvale, Smith rejoined Portadown on the 19th February 2008, signing a contract which will bring him through to the end of the 2009-10 season.

[edit] International Career

Smith is a Northern Ireland international with 18 caps, he made his debut for Northern Ireland against Italy on the 3 June 2003 while still with Irish league side Glentoran.