Andy Smith (footballer, born 1980)

Andy Smith born 25 September 1980 in Lisburn is a professional footballer who currently plays as a striker.

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 Glentoran in 2002.

He was a prolific scorer with Glentoran which made Preston North End pay £130,000 to bring him back to England in 2004.

Andy failed to score for Preston North End in three years and had loan spells at Stockport County and Motherwell in which he also didn't score. He is widely regarded by Preston fans as the worst player ever to have played in the Lilywhite shirt.

He joined Cheltenham Town on loan on 2nd November 2006, but 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.

Smith also had a spell with Lurgan side Glenavon F.C. but was unable to impress the manager or the fans.

International Career

Smith is a Northern Ireland international with 18 caps, he made his debut for Northern Ireland against Italy on the 3 June 2003 while still with Irish league side Glentoran.

"Sub the sub" incident

Smith is most renowned for the humiliating "sub the sub" incident which occurred during the Wales vs Northern Ireland World Cup qualifying match in September 2004. He was brought on as a substitute late in the game, but was only on the field for a short period of time before being substituted himself. The change was not directly tactical in nature but was attributed to his poor performance and the Northern Ireland manager's desire to waste some time towards the end of the match.

External links

• http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=17661