Matt Smith, a former striker for Leeds United, is surpassing the record he set at the Championship giants ten years ago while having the best season of his career at Salford City.
Okay, so not many Elland Road fans have many fond memories of Matt Smith as a player. However, from a personal standpoint, Matt Smith’s brief stay in West Yorkshire was generally successful. Aside from a spell at Millwall, Smith’s most productive league season to date was 2013–14, when he scored 12 goals in the Championship while wearing the Leeds United uniform.
Former Leeds United Striker Can’t Stop Scoring
Smith scored his 13th—and his 14th in all competitions—of 2023/24 with a trademark towering header in Saturday’s League Two clash with Mansfield Town. As such, the veteran target man needs only one more to make this the best season of his career. And it’s fair to say he has plenty of time on his side, with the Halloween pumpkins still decaying on the doorstep.
“We know, and we’ve said it all along if we can provide the right crosses and provide the right opportunities for him, then he will score goals,” Salford coach Neil Wood said after Smith plundered a hat-trick past Doncaster Rovers a couple of weeks ago (BeIN Sports).
“It’s important he’s in the right position in the box to take those opportunities. And he did that tonight.”
In fact, Smith has been ‘doing that’ throughout much of the last few months. The so-called ‘curse of the ex’ claimed another victim in August, Smith scoring in typical style against former employers Leeds United, knocking Daniel Farke’s side out of the Carabao Cup nine years after the Yorkshire giants accepted a £500,000 deadline-day bid from Fulham.
14 goals in 21 games
“I always look back on my time at Leeds fondly,” Smith told The Mirror, his arrival at Elland Road coinciding with the madcap Massimo Cellino era.
“I was probably there during one of the club’s most unstable periods in recent history. So it felt like I was there a lot longer than the full season that it was because so much was happening. I left in sort of unusual circumstances. There’s a lot more stories than just a season’s worth!”
Smith, at Salford, is certainly adding a few more chapters as he looks to ensure his story has a happy ending.
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