OTD: MARTIN SMITH BORN

Born on this day in 1974 is Martin Smith, AKA Son Of Pele...

Local Lad Smith was a star of Sunderland Schoolboys as a youngster, and turned down offers from Manchester United and Arsenal to sign for Sunderland as a 14-year-old. He made his senior debut a month before his 19th birthday and it was a dream start.

On a dark Wednesday October 20th 1993, a free kick was awarded to us against Luton Town, in the inside left position, and his effort found the Fulwell End net in the 19th minute, scoring in front of the terraces he grew up on and making fans check the programme to see who he was. It doubled our lead against The Hatters after Don Goodman had made it 1-0, with 2-0 being the final score. It also gave us hope of a half-decent season following our narrow escape from relegation from the newly-named Barclays Division One in 1992-93 - the Premier League having come into existence that season.

Remembering the goal, Smith said: "That tells you that it’s a team struggling for confidence when they let a young 18-year-old lad take free-kicks! I think it was more to do with the morning of the game we did the set-plays and I’d had two or three from exactly the same place. I think I scored them all and for whoever might have been on them it just wasn’t happening for them so it was basically just right 'you’re on free kicks!' I just remember just thinking hit it as hard as you can and it’s one of them that I think has grown a few legs down the years!"

There were 31 impressive appearances in red and white that season, and nine goals, which led to an England Under-21 call-up a year later - a sensational display off the bench against the Republic of Ireland at St. James', where predictably he received loud boos whenever on the ball. While the next season was a slow starter for Martin due to injury, he scored on his first start as we won 3-1 at WBA, and his ability on the ball, coupled with being a local Lad, saw ALS dubbing him “Son of Pele” as he remained virtually ever-present, scoring ten goals in 37 appearances. With Peter Reid replacing Mick Buxton for the final seven games, Smith’s goals were a big part of us just staying up.

Things were brighter for the team in 1995-96, as we charged to the Division One Title, with Smithy scoring twice in 26 appearances. That more than half came from the bench probably predicted why the Prem season that followed only brought him a handful of games and no goals, while the 1997-98 campaign back in Division One brought 18 games and three goals.

However, a number of serious injuries had hampered his progress and he played no part in the Playoffs, and as the years wore on, first team appearances had become more limited but he still appeared 15 times and scored four as we battered everybody on the way to winning the Championship by 18 points. He fell into the reserves in that last year at Sunderland, and was joint-top scorer as they won the Pontins League, with six goals in 16 games.

Martin’s contract expired that summer and he joined Sheffield United despite several other offers. He was reported as saying "at least they play in red and white" such was the love for his boyhood club Sunderland. After a year there he was off to Huddersfield for three seasons before joining Northampton, where he played over 100 games and is regarded as one of their best-ever players. In 2006, former Lad David Hodgson signed him for Darlington, where he stayed for nearly two seasons, his contract being cancelled in March 2008. He followed that with a brief spell at Blyth Spartans and an even briefer one at Kettering Town. Since then, he’s popped up on the 5-a-side circuit back on Wearside, playing for ALS FC, still showing off the silky skills that earned him his nickname.