Name: Andy Smith Position: Forward Born: Lisburn Date of Birth: 25/09/1980 United Debut: 08/08/09 v. Cliftonville (h) - lost 0-1 United Stats: 30 appearances, 5 goals Career: Feb 1999 - Ballyclare Comrades; Sep 1999 - Sheffield United; Nov 2000 - Bury (loan); Nov 2001 - Glenavon (loan); Feb 2002 - Glentoran; Jul 2004 - Preston North End; Nov 2004 - Stockport County (loan); Aug 2005 - Motherwell (loan); Nov 2006 - Cheltenham Town (loan); Feb 2007 - Bristol City; Oct 2007 - Portadown; Jan 2009 - Ballymena United International Honours: Northern Ireland Full International (18 caps) Northern Ireland 'B' International (1 cap) Shirt Sponsor: Leslie Kinnear Sports Bond Agent (Tel: 07813 189869)

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AFTER a season in the footballing wilderness, former Northern Ireland International Andy Smith joins Ballymena with a point to prove. The Lisburn born striker had a short spell at Sheffield United early in his career but after moving back home - it was at Glentoran where he made his name winning numerous trophies and scoring goals for fun which earned Smith a call-up to the Northern Ireland side in 2003. His impressive form for the Glens earned him a £130,000 move to Preston North End a year later, but his time in England failed to provide any success as Andy had a number of loan spells with the likes of Stockport, Motherwell, Cheltenham and finally Bristol City - in which he failed to find the back of the net for any of them.

In October 2007, Andy returned to the Irish League with Ronnie McFall's Portadown side, but his stay at Shamrock Park turned sour when they were demoted to the IFA Championship ahead of last season and left's his position in limbo. After a year out of football, Roy Walker brought the talented striker to the Ballymena Showgrounds and will hope to reignite his career in the Sky Blue shirt. [view full profile]