Leicester City Smith started his career at non-league
Alvechurch in north-east Worcestershire, where he could combine football with studying for a degree in modern languages, his subjects being French, German and Spanish, at
Coventry Polytechnic. He then signed professional forms with
Leicester City in June 1982. In his first season, he scored 13 goals in partnership with
Gary Lineker, as the Foxes won promotion to the
First Division. He spent five seasons at Leicester, scoring 84 goals in 217 appearances. In Smith's final season with the club they were relegated and he signed for Arsenal for £850,000 in March 1987, but was then loaned back to Leicester for the rest of the season.
Arsenal Smith was one of
George Graham's first major signings, and despite a hat-trick on 29 August 1987 against
Portsmouth at Highbury, Smith endured a difficult start to his Arsenal career, at one point going a full two months without scoring. But Smith would prove his worth in the long term, and topped their scoring charts in four of his first five seasons. The purchase of winger
Brian Marwood in March 1988 proved to be a significant turning point for Smith and Arsenal, Marwood being the most frequent supplier of his goals. The first season ended with a
Littlewoods Cup final appearance at Wembley where he scored in a 3-2 defeat by
Luton. The following season Smith won his first
Golden Boot with 23 goals from 36 League games, the most important being the first goal in Arsenal's
2-0 victory at
Anfield on 26 May 1989 which saw them lift that season's league championship.
1989-90 was a disappointing season both for the club and for Alan Smith goals wise. He only scored 13 goals in all competitions. Smith was top scorer again when Arsenal claimed the title in
1990-91 and won his second Golden Boot. The league winning side were deducted two points for a
brawl against Manchester United, still won the league losing only one game. But then the goals dried up for Smith, and he was battled with
Kevin Campbell for the position alongside
Ian Wright. He was an unused substitute in the
League Cup triumph 1993 against
Sheffield Wednesday after scoring twice in the 3-1 semi-final first leg at
Crystal Palace. But he played in the
FA Cup success 1993, also against Sheffield Wednesday, when he was booked for the first and only time in his career. Smith never scored a more important or perfectly struck goal than the one in the
1994 European Cup Winners' Cup final, his left-foot shot in Copenhagen stunned
Parma. His last goal for Arsenal came against
Manchester City 12 December 1994 in a 2-1 win at
Maine Road, and his last appearance for Arsenal came in the FA-cup third round, 7 January 1995 in a goalless draw against
Millwall at
The Den. A knee injury forced him to retire aged 32. Several clubs, including
Watford, had expressed an interest in signing Smith just before he announced an end to his playing days in July 1995. Smith scored 115 goals for Arsenal. Smith has been ranked at 27th within the club's listing of the 50 greatest Gunners of all time. ==International career==