BRISBANE Roar captain Matt Smith will forever be grateful Queensland took a chance on him.
Having battled unsuccessfully for a start at Portsmouth in the English Championship during his late teens, then pounded the pitch for his home town non-League side Chichester City, Smith moved to Australia in 2007 to join his parents, who had emigrated three years earlier.
He joined the Palm Beach Sharks and then the Brisbane Strikers before North Queensland Fury coach Ian Ferguson plucked him from obscurity on a loan deal in 2009.
By the time the Fury folded in early 2011, Smith had been signed by Roar coach Ange Postecoglou and now the defender stands on the brink of a third A-League title with the Brisbane club.
“Back then, when I was playing at Chichester, I never imagined that I’d be playing in my third grand final in front of a packed Suncorp Stadium,” Smith said ahead of Sunday’s sold-out title decider against Western Sydney Wanderers.
“I’m very fortunate that I have another opportunity to play in another grand final.”
Smith knows who to thank for that opportunity, including Ferguson for rolling the dice on him.
The band is back together for a grand final edition of the Fox Football Podcast – with a few special guests dropping in as well. Adam Peacock, Simon Hill and Brenton Speed are in the studio, where they are joined by Wanderers fanatic Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson, who dropped by for a chat too, and on the line by Brisbane Roar defender Jade North.
“Back then there were players that were given opportunities and weren’t particularly going on with it and so it was a big gamble from Ian Ferguson to give me the opportunity,” Smith said.
“I’m forever in debt to him, and to Ange after bringing me to Brisbane Roar when North Queensland ceased, and obviously for Brisbane to see me as a long-term player.
“There’s a lot of people along the way that I owe an awful lot to.”
Having waited until he was 27 to make his professional debut, Smith acknowledges success tastes sweet these days, even if it comes with a “late bloomer” tag.
“Playing at a professional club when I was younger and not quite making it and to get the opportunity to be a professional footballer day-in day-out for the last few years and hopefully a few more years certainly makes you more appreciative, particularly of what we’ve done over the last couple of years,” said Smith, now 31.
“Growing up in England, if you’re not in a professional environment when you’re in your late teens by the latest, it’s very, very difficult to make it.
“I always tried to be the best I could and was always hoping for an opportunity and I was very thankful when one arrived.”
Just as Smith’s success has been a reward for carving out a career the long way, the captain said winning a third grand final would be just desserts for the Roar’s hard graft during the season.
“Wanderers are a very fierce team,” Smith said.
“They play at a good intensity which is constant.
“With the Wanderers, you know you’re going to be in a game for the full 90 minutes. You know that they’re not going to stop. It’s going to make for a great encounter.”
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