Aidan Smith (born 11 May 1997) is a Scottish footballer who plays for Annan Athletic as a striker. Smith has previously played for Queen of the South and Peterhead.

Aidan Smith
Personal information
Date of birth (1997-05-11) 11 May 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth Dumfries, Scotland
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
Annan Athletic
Youth career
2008–2015 Queen of the South
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 Queen of the South 21 (2)
2016–2017Annan Athletic (loan) 33 (7)
2017–2019 Annan Athletic 71 (23)
2019–2020 Peterhead 23 (0)
2020– Annan Athletic 78 (15)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 09:13, 28 October 2021 (UTC)

Career

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Born in Dumfries, Smith started his career at hometown club Queen of the South. Smith was first named in a match-day squad on 24 August 2013, remaining an unused substitute in the team's 2–0 defeat away to Hamilton Academical in the Scottish Championship.[1] Smith was a named substitute for six other matches that season, although he was unused.

On 6 March 2015, Smith debuted in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup, replacing Gavin Reilly for the final 11 minutes of the 1–0 defeat at Palmerston Park versus Falkirk.[2] Four days later, Smith made his league debut at Ibrox versus Rangers, replacing Reilly once again in the 83rd minute and three minutes later the 17-year-old scored his first career league goal, exploiting a mistake by goalkeeper Lee Robinson to earn a 1–1 draw for the Doonhamers.[3]

Smith was then loaned out to Annan Athletic for the first half of the 2016–17 season,[4] with the loan deal then extended until the end of the season on 7 January 2017.[5] His contract with Queens wasn't renewed during May 2017, so he was released after spending seven seasons in the youth set-up at Palmerston from 2008 until 2015 and then two seasons in the first-team squad.[6] On 14 June 2017, Smith signed a permanent deal with Annan Athletic, after a season-long spell on loan at Galabank from Queens during the 2016–17 season.[7]

On 24 June 2019, Smith signed for Peterhead after two seasons with the Galabankies.[8] He left Peterhead after one season, and returned to Annan in September 2020.[9]

Statistics

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As of match played 23 October 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Scottish Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Queen of the South 2014–15[10] Scottish Championship 5 1 1 0 0 0 1[a] 0 7 1
2015–16[11] 16 1 0 0 2 0 2[b] 0 20 1
2016–17[12] 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0
Total 21 2 1 0 4 0 3 0 29 2
Annan Athletic (loan) 2016–17[12] Scottish League Two 33 7 0 0 0 0 2[c] 2 35 9
Annan Athletic 2017–18[13] Scottish League Two 36 12 1 0 4 0 2[b] 3 43 15
2018–19[14] 35 11 3 2 4 1 6[d] 0 48 14
Total 71 23 4 2 8 1 8 3 91 29
Peterhead 2019–20[15] Scottish League One 23 0 1 0 4 0 1[b] 0 29 0
Annan Athletic 2020–21[16] Scottish League Two 22 2 1 1 4 0 0 0 27 3
2021–22[17] 10 1 1 0 3 0 1[b] 0 15 1
Total 32 3 2 1 7 0 1 0 42 4
Career total 180 35 8 3 23 1 15 5 226 44
  1. ^ Appearance in the Premiership play-offs
  2. ^ a b c d Appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup
  3. ^ Appearances in the League One play-offs
  4. ^ Two appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup and four appearances in the Scottish League One play-offs

References

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  1. ^ "Hamilton Academical 2-0 Queen of the South". BBC Sport. 24 August 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  2. ^ Southwick, Andrew (6 March 2015). "Queen of the South 0-1 Falkirk". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  3. ^ Wilson, Richard (10 March 2015). "Rangers 1-1 Queen of the South". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  4. ^ "Aidan Joins Annan on Loan". Queen of the South FC. 5 August 2016. Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  5. ^ "Smith Rejoins Annan". Queen of the South FC. 7 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  6. ^ "Squad update". Queen of the South FC. 6 May 2017. Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  7. ^ "Peter Murphy makes first signings". Annan Athletic FC. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  8. ^ Law, Callum. "Play-offs the target for new Peterhead striker Smith ahead of League One campaign". Evening Express. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  9. ^ Law, Callum. "Jim McInally certain Aidan Smith's luck will change after goalless Peterhead spell". Press and Journal. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Games played by Aidan Smith in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  11. ^ "Games played by Aidan Smith in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  12. ^ a b "Games played by Aidan Smith in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  13. ^ "Games played by Aidan Smith in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  14. ^ "Games played by Aidan Smith in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  15. ^ "Games played by Aidan Smith in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  16. ^ "Games played by Aidan Smith in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  17. ^ "Games played by Aidan Smith in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
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