NEW GULL PROFILE

Sam Turner – @sam_turner97

Sam blogs about new signing Scott Smith

Another new addition for the Gulls that came just before the Wrexham match last weekend was a loanee (until January) from Wigan Athletic by the name of Scott Smith. Capped at u19 level for Wales, the midfielder joined the Gulls in a tricky situation with the club sitting just above the relegation zone at the time. He endured a difficult debut against a strong Wrexham side and, long story short, has a job on his hands to help the team off the bottom of the pile. Let’s take a closer look at his career so far.

CAREER SUMMARY

Born in Wigan on 7th February 2001, Scott Smith has spent his entire career so far among his hometown clubs ranks. Starting in the youth system in 2013 but promoted to the seniors in 2019 when he signed his first professional contract, he captained the u23s for the 2020/21 season and made his professional debut for Wigan in August 2021 in an 8-7 penalty shootout win against Hull City in the EFL Cup. He is yet to make an appearance for the first team in the league however and will hope that this loan move will give him a chance to impress manager Leam Richardson, whilst also bringing Gulls fans some much needed joy along the way. He has had some international experience as well, earning 3 caps for the Wales u19 side..

HIGHLIGHTS

Unfortunately no highlights were available for Smith but he was awarded Wigan Athletic’s PFA Community Champion award for the 2021/22 season for his work with the local community. The interview with him about the award is below, he seems a good lad and even at a young age will hopefully bring more professionalism and positivity to a dressing room low on morale.

STATS

Position: CM/CDM

DOB: 07/02/2001

Height: 5ft 8ins

Birthplace: Wigan

Current club: Wigan Athletic

TALKING SMITH

MATTY ORTON (TALKING POINTS WREXHAM (A)

‘New loan signing Scott Smith joined yesterday and was given the number 36 for the pleasure. It wasn’t until the end when I made the connection that it was his family who had watched the game sat in front of me. Please accept my apologies on behalf of the majority of the fanbase and those at TUFC. I dread to think what they and Scott must be thinking they’ve got themselves involved in after witnessing that. Nonetheless, I thought he played well despite the circumstance, if we can get the midfield in some sort of working order then I can’t see why results won’t start happening for us’.

MOST LIKELY/LEAST LIKELY TO

Most Likely To:

Bring more life and energy to the midfield

Be called Smithy at the first opportunity

Be heralded as our best player in this nervy team

Least Likely To:

Solve the need for goals in the side

CONCLUSION

Another young incoming who can hopefully can lift the Gulls out of their slump, with any luck Smith will bring some control and composure to the midfield, as well as the ability to lead the team and marshall us into a more cohesive unit. Not a brilliant start to his Gulls stint with a 6-0 loss already under his belt but that can be excused as settling into the side. It’s up to him to prove himself to Gary and his parent club as well in the coming weeks. A proper test of his character at Plainmoor and someone who we need to be closer to Adam Randell in impact than Tommy Hughes. Good luck Scott!