Early playing career Smith was born in
Epsom and made an appearance for his hometown club on the final day of the
1997–98 Isthmian League Third Division season. He continued his career at
Charlton Athletic, but was released in the summer of 1999, after one year as a professional. After a short period with
Walton & Hersham, Smith moved to
Carshalton Athletic in late 1999, but moved to
Brentford in August 2000 after they spotted Smith guesting for
Crawley Town in a pre-season friendly against The Bees. At Brentford, he made 104 appearances.
Southampton In January 2004, to address financial problems at Brentford, Smith was sold to
Southampton for a fee reported to be £250,000, with additional add on fees totalling another £250,000. At Southampton, he was initially deputy to
Antti Niemi, but, following Niemi's departure, Smith took over as their number one. However, he found himself further down the pecking order with the arrival of
Bartosz Białkowski and
Kevin Miller.
Nottingham Forest In search of first team football, Smith signed for
League One side
Nottingham Forest for around £500,000 in July 2006. He established himself ahead of
Rune Pedersen as Forest's first choice goalkeeper for the club's 2006–07 promotion campaign. In the
2007–08 campaign, Smith helped Forest gain automatic promotion finishing second in the league they were promoted from
League One to the
Championship. Smith had a good season and helped enormously in goal, making match winning saves to help the Reds gain promotion. He kept 24 clean sheets in 46 games, In July 2008, Smith signed a new two-year contract with Forest, keeping him at the
City Ground until 2010, and signed another extension in 2009, to keep Smith at the City Ground until 2012. After falling out of favour with manager
Billy Davies, Smith lost his first choice status to
Lee Camp, despite having played in all three of their League Cup matches. On 30 July 2010, Smith was placed on the transfer list and told he was free to seek first team football elsewhere. This was two days after a pre-season friendly at the City Ground against French
Ligue 1 team
Olympique Lyonnais which Forest lost 3–1. Smith was replaced by youngster
Karl Darlow in the 75th minute, and Smith's performance was criticised. In the 2011–12 season, Smith was restricted to one first team game, a
Football League Cup at home to neighbours
Notts County which ended in a 3–3 draw, Forest winning the penalty shoot-out. Smith's contract expired with Forest at the end of the 2011–12 season and he was released by the club.
Middlesbrough (loan) On 8 March 2011, Smith joined
Middlesbrough on loan until the end of the season; he made his debut that night in a 2–1 win against
Derby County. He played in 10 first team games.
Southend United On 18 August 2012, Smith signed a two-year deal with Southend United.
Colchester United On 6 July 2017, Smith joined
Colchester United as head of academy goalkeeper coaching. == Career statistics ==