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AFTER a season in the footballing wilderness, former Northern Ireland International Andy Smith joins Ballymena United with a point to prove.

The Lisburn native, born on 25th September 1980, began his footballing career with Lisburn Youth and also had spells at Shankhill Boys and Glenavon but made his senior debut for Ballyclare Comrades at the age of 18. He signed for the East Antrim side in February 1999 and scored a handful of goals at Dixon Park before getting his big break across the water.

Smith earned a move to English First Division side Sheffield United signing a three year YTS deal in September 1999, just days short of his 19th birthday. It wasn't until the following season when he made his first-team debut for the 'Blades'; coming on as a substitute in a League Cup defeat to Lincoln City in September 2000.

Sheffield United manager stuck with his young forward and Andy made a total of ten appearances for Sheffield United at the start of the 2000/2001 season - however all from the bench. In November 2000 he was sent to Second Division Bury on loan for two months in order to gain some valuable experience in the Football League.

Two broken ankles amongst other injuries hampered his progress at Bramall Lane meaning he wasn't to feature for the first-team again and the following season returned back to Northern Ireland - joining Glenavon on a three-month loan in November 2001. The striker made an instant impact with the struggling Lurgan Blues, when he scored a dramatic last minute winner on his debut against Crusaders to seal a 4-3 victory; during his time in Mid-Ulster he made a total of 15 appearences and scored four goals.

To the surprise of many at Mourneview Park, Smith was unveiled as a Glentoran player in February 2002 - having secured a permanent free transfer from Sheffield United. He made an almost identical start to life at the Oval as he did at Glenavon - by scoring a last minute winner against Crusaders on his debut for the second time during the 2001/2002 season! A few days later Andy picked up his first senior medal as he helped his new Glentoran side to a 2-0 victory over Linfield in the final of the County Antrim Shield.

The following season defined Andy Smith's career to date as Glentoran came agonisingly close to securing a unprecedented 'Clean Sweep' of all the available trophies in the Irish League. After making his first appearances in European competition against Wisla Krakow; the Irish League was won at a canter, which was followed up by the League Cup and the Country Antrim Shield (following victory over Ballymena United) and an impressive 35 goal haul from Smith played a major part in the East Belfast Glens' success. Only the Irish Cup eluded Glentoran, as they lost in the showpiece final to Coleraine with Andy Smith cruelly deflecting Jody Tolan's effort past his own goalkeeper for the only goal of the game.

His outstanding form was rewarded by then Northern Ireland manager Sammy McIlroy who gave the 22-year-old forward his international debut in a friendly defeat to Italy. Andy followed this up a few days later with an impressive display at Windsor Park in a European Qualifier against Spain which finished 0-0; he was to become a regular in the International setup over the next season and evetually became Glentoran's joint most capped international with 11 caps, but failed to score in any of these appearances.

The 2003/2004 campaign as Glentoran and Smith together failed to live up to the high standards set the season before; as the Glens finished a disappointing fourth but did manage to avenge their Irish Cup final defeat to Coleraine, with Michael Halliday's goal separating the sides. This turned out to be Smith's last game for the East Belfast side as after 57 goals in just 97 appearances, he was on the move back to professional football in England.

With Andy looking all but set for a move to MK Dons, a late move from Preston North End lured Smith to Deepdale in a £130,000 move in July 2004. Playing alongside Northern Ireland strike partner David Healy, Andy made his North End debut in August against Watford but found it tought adapting to life back in England as he failed to find the back of the net in 17 games during the 2004/05 campaign and even a short loan spell in November at Stockport County with former International manager Sammy McIlroy failed to ignite his season.

It was towards the end of that season in which Smith earned the last of his 18 caps for his country, having failed to recreate his early form under new manager Lawrie Sanchez and also failing to break his International scoring duck. His final cap came in a glamour friendly at Windsor Park against Germany in June 2005 - Northern Ireland lost 4-1.

In August 2005, Terry Butcher took the Lisburn striker north of the border to Motherwell on loan until January with his chances at Preston North End now looking bleak. It turned out to be a disaster for Andy as injury struck again after just nine games and he was forced to return to Lancashire to see out the rest of the season on the sidelines.

He didn't reappear in competitive action until the following season, when Cheltenham Town fans funded a loan move for Smith in November 2006 but he unceremoniously walked out on the League One side after being named on the bench for an FA Cup tie. In February he made a surprise move to League One promotion chasers Bristol City on a free transfer as they looked to strengthen their attack for the run-in. The Robins gained promotion to the English Championship - but Smith's short-term deal wasn't renewed.