OTD: MARTIN SMITH DEBUT
- BY DANIEL McCALLUM
- 9 hours ago
- 2 min read
On this day in 1993, boyhood Sunderland fan and 'son of Pele' Martin Smith marked his Sunderland debut with a free kick goal against Luton Town in front of the Fulwell End.
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.
His free kick found the net in the 19th minute, scoring in front of the stand he'd grew up in. It doubled our lead against Luton after Don Goodman had made it 1-0, with 2-0 being the final score. It gave us a glimmer of hope following our relegation from Division One in 1990/91.
Remembering the goal, Smith said: "That tells you that it’s a team struggling for confidence when they let a young 19-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!"
Impressive performances in red and white led to England Under-21 callups - most notably a sensational display against Republic of Ireland at St. James', where predictably he received loud boos whenever on the ball. Another obvious highlight for Smith during his time at SAFC would be a Division One championship medal in 1996.
However, a number of serious injuries hampered his progress and as the years wore on, first team appearances became more limited. He fell into the reserves in his last year at Sunderland (and would be joint-top scorer as our reserves won the Pontins League, with six goals in 16 games).
His contract expired that summer and Martin 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.
