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 Championship club Preston North End pay £130,000 to bring him back to England in 2004.
Unfortunately, Andy could not replicate his prolific goal-scoring form in the Championship- he failed to score for Preston North End in three years and as a result he was sent out on loan to Stockport County and Motherwell in which he also did not score.
Cheltenham Town fans were asked to fund a loan striker in the 2006-07 season and the then manager John Ward brought in Andy Smith from Preston. He joined Cheltenham Town on loan on 2 November 2006 He refused to sit on the bench for an FA Cup first round replay at Scunthorpe United and promptly returned to his parent club without scoring.
He 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, and left in December 2007 when his short term contract ended. After failing to get back into full time football with Port Vale, Smith rejoined Portadown on the 19th February 2008, signing a contract which ought to have brought him through to the end of the 2009-10 season. However on the 3rd December, Portadown boss Ronnie McFall confirmed that Smith had not reported to training for over 2 months, in protest at the club's refusal to release him from his contract. The striker felt that it was in the interests of his career to leave Portadown because of their demotion from the top level of Northern Irish league football. On July 7 Smith joined Grimsby Town on trial but failed to earn a contract. On August 3 he signed a two year deal with Ballymena United.
The following season saw Andy score 10 goals in 39 appearances for his new club, one of which was an equalising goal in an Irish Cup semi-final defeat to Portadown. The celebration that followed this goal was both bizarre and controversial, with Andy donning a white glove which he pulled out from his shorts and mimicking a loyalist marcher along the touchline. Under prompting from the Andersontown News and Sinn Féin Assemblyman Paul Butler, the IFA agreed to look into the incident but no disciplinary action was ever taken.
In August 2011 Smith signd for Belgian side Union Royale Namur.
Read more about this topic: Andy Smith (footballer Born 1980)
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