By Nathan Jackson
July 8 2011

Rushden and Diamonds' financial plight in 2011 was beneficial for the Imps with the signing of Sam Smith. The young striker was a product of the youth department at Nene Park and Steve Tilson was quick to snap him up when his contract expired.

SIGNED FROM : Rushden and Diamonds

Debut : 13th August 2011

Final Match : 21st April 2012

Young striker Sam Smith joined Lincoln City in the summer of 2011 following the financial plight that saw Rushden and Diamonds expelled from the Blue Square Premier.

Smith had come through the youth set up at Rushden, making his first team debut less than a year after joining the club. He made his debut for Rushden in April 2008 and scored his first goal for the Diamonds less than a month later.

34 appearances in the following season yielded a respectable eight goals, even more impressive for a striker of his age given that he only started seven of those games. The following season was less successful and loan spells at Corby and Hinckley followed.

In 2010 Justin Edinburgh said he had every intention of playing Smith on a regular basis, telling the BBC "I've got a feeling about Sam this year. It's time for him to take the shirt and make it his own. He's starting to realise how good he is and the assets that he has."

It didn't turn out quite how anyone expected though as he was injured and only played seven times in 2010/11, although he did score three goals, a fair return considering.

Rushden's financial problems meant they were expelled from the Blue Square Premier in June 2011 and all player contacts effectively became null and void. Tilson took advantage by signing Smith up.

Smith got off to a good start to his Lincoln career when he scored the first goal of the 2011/12 season at Southport before doubling his tally six days later against Wrexham. Although goals weren't coming thick and fast, he did find himself at the top of Lincoln's goalscoring charts after a double against Alfreton in October made it 5 goals in his first three months of being an Imp, not an awful return.

He started developing a reputation of doing very little during the game and yet scoring, and with his second goal in the aforementioned game against Alfreton he became the first permanent Imp for three seasons to score more than four goals during a season.

Regularly injured, Smith's appearances for the Imps were sporadic to say the least, but he did manage 29 games and nine goals by the end of his first season, maintaining his record of a goal roughly every thre games. It would turn out to be his only season at Sincil Bank though as he joined Cambridge United at the beginning of the 2012/13 season.

Striker : Sam Smith

Discussion started by theimps.ka (IP Logged), 08/07/2011 23:33

theimps.ka
08/07/2011 23:33

What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.

Reply Quote Report

Goto: Forum List•Message List•Search• Log In

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment. We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals. We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards. If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing abuse@sportnetwork.net