Playing career

Smith joined Burslem Port Vale

Port Vale F.C.

Port Vale Football Club is an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire — one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as...

 in June 1892 and made his debut at left-half in a 4-0 defeat at Sheffield United

Sheffield United F.C.

Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...

 on 17 December 1892. He was a regular in the side from September 1893, but his career ground to halt on New Years Day 1894 as he injured an ankle

Ankle

The ankle joint is formed where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle, or talocrural joint, is a synovial hinge joint that connects the distal ends of the tibia and fibula in the lower limb with the proximal end of the talus bone in the foot...

 in a 3-1 defeat at Middlesbrough Ironopolis

Middlesbrough Ironopolis F.C.

Middlesbrough Ironopolis Football Club were an English association football club which briefly played in the Football League in the 1890s. Their entire history was played out during the Victorian era in Middlesbrough....

. He played few games from then until his release in the summer

Summer

Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, between spring and autumn. At the summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice...

of 1895.