Phil Smith (footballer, born 1979)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Phillip Smith | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Swindon Town | ||
| Number | 25 | ||
Phil Smith (born December 14, 1979) is a professional footballer who plays in goal for Swindon Town.
Smith started his career as a youngster with Millwall F.C. before being released and falling into the Non-League with Folkestone Invicta F.C. followed by spells at Dover Athletic and Margate F.C.. He then became first choice at Crawley Town F.C..
Crawley went into administration and and made all of their players available for transfer. Despite being one of only five Crawley players to show for pre-season training, Smith signed for the Robins after a successful trial which included winning the Copa Ibiza friendly competition in the Summer of 2006.
Smith's first role at Swindon his to challenge first choice Petr Brezovan for the goalkeepers jersey, a challenge that was made by Town boss Dennis Wise.
After Petr Brezovan suffered a broken arm in home game against Grimsby Town on the 14th October Phil Smith was handed the goalkeepers jersey.
He has been solid in goal ever since and picked up the PFA fans player of the month for December which was presented on the 27th January before the home game against Macclesfield by superfan Laurence Packham