Craig Mackail-Smith

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Craig Mackail-Smith
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Mackail-Smith playing for Brighton & Hove Albion in 2011
Personal information
Full name Craig Anthony Robert Mackail-Smith[1]
Date of birth (1984-02-25) 25 February 1984 (age 40)[2]
Place of birth Watford, England
Height Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Luton Town
Number 22
Youth career
1999–2000 St Albans City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2003 St Albans City 31 (1)
2003–2004 Arlesey Town
2004–2007 Dagenham & Redbridge 107 (38)
2007–2011 Peterborough United 185 (80)
2011–2015 Brighton & Hove Albion 109 (21)
2014 → Peterborough United (loan) 3 (0)
2015– Luton Town 11 (3)
International career‡
2005–2006 England C 7 (4)
2011–2012 Scotland 7 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 08:55, 8 October 2015 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13:11, 1 January 2015 (UTC)

Craig Anthony Robert Mackail-Smith (born 25 February 1984) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Luton Town.

He started his career in non-league football, beginning at St Albans City before moving to Arlesey Town and later Dagenham & Redbridge. His goalscoring record at Dagenham prompted Football League Two side Peterborough United to sign him in January 2007. He went on to become a regular fixture in the Peterborough side, scoring 80 league goals to help the club to three promotions in his four-and-a-half seasons at London Road. He won the League One Player of the Year for 2010–11 after scoring 35 goals during the season.

In July 2011, he signed for Brighton & Hove Albion in the Championship for a fee of £2.5 million. He remained with the club for four seasons before leaving at the end of the 2014–15 season. He then signed for Luton Town of League Two in August 2015. Mackail-Smith has played for England C and at full international level for Scotland.

Club career

Early career

Born in Watford, Hertfordshire,[2] Mackail-Smith started his career with the youth system at St Albans City in 1999.[4] He was released at the end of the 2003 season and joined Arlesey Town where he played for one season, a highlight of which was knocking Dagenham & Redbridge out of the FA Trophy.[5]

Dagenham & Redbridge

He joined Dagenham & Redbridge in 2004 when the club was in the Conference National.[6] When he was at the club he scored 38 league goals in two-and-a-half seasons.[7] On 29 January 2007 he was signed by Peterborough United, with Dagenham retaining 15% of any future transfer fee.

Peterborough United

Mackail-Smith started strongly at Peterborough United, scoring 8 goals in 15 games to help the club win promotion to League One.[8] His partnership with fellow striker Aaron McLean proved prosperous, the two of them scoring a combined 183 goals for Posh in their time at the club, which included three promotions.

Steve Claridge posted a scouting report on 23 September 2008 on Mackail-Smith. He described him as "a rampaging Nordic Viking with his long blonde hair",[8] and he was impressed by the way he would pick up the ball and run at defenders, attacking at every opportunity in what Claridge described as a positive way. Mackail-Smith managed to score 35 goals for the club during the 2010–11 campaign, making him the most prolific scorer in England for the season and also bagged him the prize of Football League One Player of the Year Award.[9]

His then manager Darren Ferguson described him as a hard-working front man who has an excellent goal-to-game ratio. When Mackail-Smith was interviewed by BBC Sport in June 2011 he stated "I want to play at the highest level I can attain and I want to play in the Premier League.”[10] On 29 May 2011 Mackail-Smith scored the second goal in a 3–0 win against Huddersfield Town at Old Trafford to clinch promotion for Peterborough United to the Championship.[11] Prior to Mackail-Smith leaving for Brighton, he was the subject of bids from Premier League clubs including Queens Park Rangers.[12]

In total, Mackail-Smith scored 99 goals over 211 games in all competitions for Peterborough United.[13]

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 4 July 2011, Mackail-Smith joined Brighton & Hove Albion for an initial £2.5 million, possibly rising to £3.25 million, signing a four-year deal.[14] Mackail-Smith's first goal for Brighton was a winner against Portsmouth. Mackail-Smith then scored four goals in his next seven matches, including a double in a 3–3 home draw against Leeds United.[15]

However, Mackail-Smith then hit a goal drought and struggled to score, hitting just one goal between October 2011 and February 2012, on 29 November 2011 against Derby County,[16] although he was still a key player of Brighton's campaign, and was credited with more assists than any other player in the squad during that time.

In one match, a 2–0 win over Bristol City in January, he was elbowed in the face in the penalty area and had to come off with a black eye. He played Brighton's next match despite still having a heavily swollen eye. Mackail-Smith ended his goal drought by coming off the bench against the team he scored two against earlier in the season, Leeds United, to score at close range from a corner. Mackail-Smith's goal put Brighton 1–0 up and they eventually won the match 2–1.[17]

On his 28th birthday he scored at the Amex Stadium for the first time in five months in a 3–0 win against Ipswich Town, and scored again the next weekend in a 1–1 draw with Doncaster Rovers. In total, Mackail-Smith scored 10 goals for Brighton, and he revealed his disappointment at his goal haul, which he largely put down to adapting to Brighton's passing style of football.[18]

Mackail-Smith enjoyed a strong start to the 2012–13 season, scoring six goals in six games. This included two spectacular strikes, one an overhead kick, in a 3–1 victory over Burnley. He scored a total of 11 goals before a serious injury to his Achilles tendon on 5 March 2013 prevented him from playing for 13 months.[19]

Mackail-Smith returned for Brighton's final run-in to the 2013–14 season, playing in both legs of the play-off semi-final against Derby County, which the club lost 6–2 on aggregate.[20]

During the 2014–15 season, Mackail-Smith found himself back in the first team under new manager Sami Hyypiä. However, he struggled to score goals and rejoined Peterborough United on loan on 27 November 2014, playing in three matches.[21] He returned to Brighton and played in 18 games throughout the second half of the season, but failed to score. On 24 April 2015, Brighton confirmed that Mackail-Smith's contract would not be renewed and that he would leave the club during the summer.[22]

Luton Town

In July 2015, Mackail-Smith began training with League Two club Luton Town, headed up by his former Dagenham & Redbridge manager John Still.[23] He featured in numerous pre-season friendlies, rebuffing interest from League One teams Blackpool and Southend United,[24][25] before signing a two-year contract with Luton on 1 August 2015.[26]

International career

England C

While with Dagenham & Redbridge, Mackail-Smith received his first international recognition being called up to play for the England C team, winning seven caps and scoring four goals. He helped England C win the 2005–06 European Challenge Trophy, scoring twice.

Scotland

Mackail-Smith qualified to play for Scotland through his Edinburgh-born grandmother Margaret and confirmed his interest in playing for Scotland if called up in May 2009.[27] On 24 March 2011, he received his first senior international call-up from Scotland boss Craig Levein for a friendly with Brazil on 27 March.[28] He made his international debut when he came on as a substitute for Kenny Miller in the 87th minute.[29][30] He scored his first international goal against Liechtenstein on 8 October 2011 in a crucial Euro 2012 qualifier,[31] and played in the match against Spain in Alicante on 12 October 2011, winning a penalty from which David Goodwillie scored, in a match that Spain won 3–1. Mackail-Smith played seven times for Scotland in total, scoring one goal.[32]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 3 October 2015.
Club statistics
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
St Albans City 2000–01[33] Isthmian Premier Division 9 0 0 0 — 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 10 0
2001–02[34] Isthmian Premier Division 8 0 0 0 — 5[lower-alpha 2] 1 13 1
2002–03[35] Isthmian Premier Division 14 1 3 0 — 5[lower-alpha 3] 0 22 1
Total 31 1 3 0 — 11 1 45 2
Dagenham & Redbridge 2004–05[36] Conference National 40 12 2 0 — 1[lower-alpha 4] 0 43 12
2005–06[37] Conference National 39 11 1 0 — 5[lower-alpha 4] 3 45 14
2006–07[38] Conference National 28 15 1 0 — 2[lower-alpha 4] 1 31 16
Total 107 38 4 0 — 8 4 119 42
Peterborough United 2006–07[39] League Two 15 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 8
2007–08[40] League Two 36 12 4 7 0 0 1[lower-alpha 5] 0 41 19
2008–09[41] League One 46 23 5 3 1 0 1[lower-alpha 5] 0 53 26
2009–10[42] Championship 43 10 1 0 3 1 — 47 11
2010–11[43] League One 45 27 4 2 3 3 4[lower-alpha 6] 3 56 35
Total 185 80 14 12 7 4 6 3 212 99
Brighton & Hove Albion 2011–12[44] Championship 45 9 3 0 2 1 — 50 10
2012–13[45] Championship 29 11 2 0 0 0 0 0 31 11
2013–14[46] Championship 5 0 0 0 0 0 2[lower-alpha 7] 0 7 0
2014–15[47] Championship 30 1 1 0 3 2 — 34 3
Total 109 21 6 0 5 3 2 0 122 24
Peterborough United (loan) 2014–15[47] League One 3 0 — 3 0
Luton Town 2015–16[48] League Two 11 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 3
Career total 445 143 27 12 12 7 27 8 516 170
  1. ↑ Appearance(s) in Full Members Cup
  2. ↑ One appearance in Isthmian League Cup, two appearances and one goal in Herts Senior Cup, one appearance in Herts Charity Cup, one appearance in Billy Minter Trophy
  3. ↑ Three appearances in Isthmian League Cup, two appearances in Herts Senior Cup
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Appearance(s) in FA Trophy
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Appearance in Football League Trophy
  6. ↑ One appearance in Football League Trophy, three appearances and three goals in League One play-offs
  7. ↑ Two appearances in Championship play-offs

International

As of match played 26 May 2012.[49]

International statistics

National team Year Apps Goals
Scotland 2011 5 1
2012 2 0
Total 7 1

International goals

Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 8 October 2011 Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz  Liechtenstein 1–0 1–0 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

Honours

Dagenham & Redbridge

Peterborough United

Individual

References

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  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Craig Mackail-Smith at scottishfa.co.uk
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Appearances and goals for this season are taken from:
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  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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