Going to the camp of the enemy and a terrible injury
Leeds’ financial problems forced the club to sell a promising player for £7 million to their worst enemy, Man United. Before that, Smith kissed the Leeds emblem and said that he would never go to Manchester United. True, he later regretted his words: “When I made such a statement, I was young and naive. I never thought that Manchester United would be interested in me and Leeds would sell me. The best football coach of all time wanted me on his team. How could I refuse? Smith was losing offensive competition to Rude van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney, so Sir Alex Ferguson moved Smithy into the defensive zone after the departure of Roy Keane. In his new position, Alan acted in the style of the legendary Irishman: he gnawed balls and rushed into dangerous tackles, sparing neither himself nor his opponents. In 2006, in an FA Cup match against Liverpool, Smith suffered an open leg fracture and his foot twisted 90 degrees. This injury is called one of the most severe in English football. After a long recovery, Alan returned to the field, but could not reach the previous level. I had to choose: wipe the bench at Manchester United with a salary of 100 thousand a week or go to Newcastle with a 1.5-fold reduction in wages. Smith ended up moving to the Magpies for £6m.
Career slump: Newcastle and then Championship
After the second ankle fracture, Smith had already finally moved into the support zone and was exclusively engaged in destruction. For 5 years in the “forty” Alan played 84 matches, having managed to fly to the Championship and return to the Premier League. Smith spent the 2009/10 season in the Championship without injury and helped the Magpies return to the elite. In the summer of 2011, Smith was given to understand that they were no longer counting on him, so the following year, the 32-year-old player moved to MK Dons, a club from the second division of the English Football League, and in 2014 he dropped down a division, moving to ” Notts County is the oldest professional club in the world. Alan played the role of playing coach and ended his playing career in 2018 at the age of 38. 14 years after the horrific fracture, Smith admitted that the injury is still making itself felt: “I get out of bed and can’t walk properly, my ankle is hard all the time.”