Kelly Smith
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Smith in 2017
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kelly Jayne Smith | ||
| Date of birth | 29 October 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | Watford, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1997–1999 | Seton Hall Pirates | 51 | (76) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1994–1996 | Wembley Ladies | ||
| 1996–1997 | Arsenal Ladies | ||
| 1999–2000 | New Jersey Lady Stallions | ||
| 2001–2003 | Philadelphia Charge | 26 | (9) |
| 2004 | New Jersey Wildcats | 8 | (8) |
| 2005–2009 | Arsenal Ladies | 66 | (73) |
| 2009–2012 | Boston Breakers | 45 | (18) |
| 2012–2017 | Arsenal Ladies | 17 | (8) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1995–2014 | England | 117 | (46) |
| 2012 | Great Britain | 4 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14 December 2014. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:30, 14 December 2014 (UTC) |
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Kelly Jayne Smith, MBE (born 29 October 1978, in Watford) is a retired English football forward who spent three spells with FA WSL club Arsenal Ladies. A product of the American college system, Smith broke records with Seton Hall University then played professionally with Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) franchise Philadelphia Charge. After returning to Arsenal for a spell which included a 2007 UEFA Women's Cup win, Smith was tempted back to America with another professional contract, this time with Boston Breakers in Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). She has accumulated over 100 caps for the England women's national football team since making her debut in 1995. Despite being hit by serious injury during her career, Smith is England's record goalscorer with 46 goals. She played for Great Britain at the 2012 London Olympics.
While growing up in the Garston area of Watford, Smith regularly played football on boys' teams until, at the age of seven, she was kicked out of Garston Boys Club – despite being the top goalscorer – when the parents of her male opponents complained. After continuing at Pinner Girls, a team formed by Smith's father, she developed her skills at Wembley Ladies and made her senior debut in season 1994–95. In August 1995, Pete Davies wrote in The Independent that the "lethally quick, bountifully gifted" Smith was: "the outstanding prospect in the women's game today." After moving to Arsenal Ladies during 1996–97, she scored two goals and assisted on the third in a 3–0 win over Liverpool which secured the Premier League title that season. She spent that year at West Herts College, but transferred to Seton Hall University in the United States in 1997.
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