Matt Smith has sent a touching tribute to Leeds United and all of his other previous clubs after he clocked up his 500th club appearance with Salford City on the weekend – in a 4-2 loss to MK Dons.
Smith, 34, could not prevent Salford losing a third straight league match against MK Dons. But, Smith is in superb form this season – after joining the League Two club back in January 2022. 15 goals, scored.
In just 24 games. Smith has clocked up the 500 games for nine different clubs, also turning out for the likes of Fulham, Bristol City, Millwall and QPR. He is showing no signs of slowing down, even now at 34.
Smith played 48 of his 500 games in a Leeds shirt, joining the club from Oldham in the summer of 2013. In that time, he scored 14 goals and created seven more – only to leave just over a year later, to Fulham.
It became a bit of an infamous move for Smith – but not by his doing. The Leeds Twitter account told fans “don’t go to bed just yet”, in the final minutes of the August 2014 deadline, causing excitement.
Matt Smith thanks Leeds and other clubs after 500 games
Fans thought Leeds were about to announce a new signing, out of the blue – but instead, the club had confirmed the sale of Smith to Fulham. Adam Pope’s BBC podcast is named after it, nine years later.
But Smith remains well-liked at Elland Road and has spoken well on his time at Leeds – even if, Smith scored against Leeds for Salford this season, in their Carabao Cup win against the Whites on penalties.
Smith took to Twitter over the weekend after clocking up his 500th club appearance, in which he failed to score as MK Dons ran out 4-2 winners. He thanked the “great clubs” he’s played for, including Leeds.
Receive a digest of our best Leeds content each week direct to your mailbox
