Smith attended Madeley High School and played for Madeley White Star; he helped his school to win the Sentinel Schools' Shield at Vale Park in 2012. He signed a one-year professional contract with Port Vale in June 2014. He was loaned out to Northern Premier League Division One South club Stafford Rangers in October 2014. The loan was later extended until the end of the 2014–15 season. He joined National League side Torquay United on an initial three-month loan deal in July 2015. He impressed for the "Gulls" and the loan was later extended to cover the whole of the 2015–16 season. He made a total of 44 appearances at Plainmoor and was voted the club's Player of the Season and Young Player of the Season. Manager Kevin Nicholson described him as a "freak of nature". He made his League One debut for Port Vale on the opening day of the 2016–17 season, in a 0–0 draw with Bradford City on 6 August. His performance saw him named in the Football League Paper's League One Team of the Day. New manager Bruno Ribeiro had described him as the club's standout player during pre-season. He scored his first goal in the Football League on 16 August, with his header proving to be the only goal of the game against Rochdale. His performances saw him nominated for the League One Player of the Month award for August. This led chairman Norman Smurthwaite to open negotiations for a new contract as he admitted Smith was "on a boy's wage compared to the rest of the squad" and Smurthwaite anticipated offers for the player from Championship clubs in the January transfer window. Smith quickly agreed to a new contract to keep him at the club until June 2020. The Football League further recognized his performances by naming him as Young Player of the Month for August. Speaking in February 2017, caretaker manager Michael Brown said that Smith set a good example to his teammates by playing through a hamstring injury. He played every game of the campaign and picked up all five of the club's end of season awards, including the Player of the Year award. Brown was sacked early in the 2017–18 season after Vale slipped in the League Two relegation zone, and his successor, Neil Aspin stated that Smith "can improve with some of his decision making", but that he remained a "key player" who "has a lot of good attributes, but he can get better". He started all 54 of the Vale's matches that season, making it two consecutive seasons of appearing in every game, though admitted he could have played better and that the team's finish of 20th in League Two was not good enough. After suffering a dip in form at the start of the 2018–19 season, Smith was dropped for the home game with Crawley Town on 18 August, putting to an end his run of 110 consecutive appearances that he had made since his debut two years previously. Smith said he would take being dropped as a learning experience. He returned to the starting line-up and formed a solid partnership with Leon Legge, whilst Connell Rawlinson was moved to right-back. The three centre-backs then went on to form a back three in a 3–5–2 formation, which was instigated after a 6–2 home defeat to Lincoln City on 13 October, and kept four clean sheets by the end of the month. By March he reached 150 appearances for the club before the age of 23, the youngest player to reach this landmark since Billy Paynter in 2005. Having played 51 of the club's 54 matches over the course of the campaign, he was named as Vale's Young Player of the Year for the second time in three years. He started the 2019–20 season in a central defensive partnership with Legge, though was criticised by Northampton Town managerKeith Curle for allegedly manhandling striker Harry Smith. On 25 August, he scored his first goal in 20 months in a 5–2 defeat at Grimsby Town. Speaking in January, club captain Legge said that Smith was more confident and much improved from the previous campaign. His form led to rumours on social media of him making a move to Birmingham City. He lost his first-team place to Shaun Brisley in January due to injury, but impressed coach Danny Pugh with his performance at right-back in a 3–0 win over Colchester United on 15 February. He was offered a new contract after he ended the campaign with five goals in 41 appearances. Tom Pope nominated Smith as his Player of the Year for the 2019–20 season in his column in The Sentinel. Smith signed a new two-year contract in July 2020, despite interest from League One clubs. He said that he stayed due to his faith in the new ownership of Kevin and Carol Shanahan, his family being settled in the area, and the offer of stability during the Coronavirus recession.
Style of play
Speaking in August 2016, Port Vale teammate Tom Pope described Smith as "brave as a lion" and a player who trained hard. Six months later, Port Vale coach Gary Brabin said Smith needed to work on his ball-playing abilities and to be more vocal, whilst praising his dependability, pace, strength and passion.
Statistics
Honours
Individual
Torquay United F.C. Player of the Season: 2015–16
Football League Young Player of the Month: August 2016
