Smith was born in Warrington, Cheshire and grew up in Helsby where he attended Helsby High School. He joined the Tranmere Rovers academy at the age of seven after being spotted playing in a local summer tournament. He spent four years at Tranmere before he joined Manchester City's Academy based at Platt Lane at the age of 11. After gaining his YTS and going on to sign his first professional contract, Smith then suffered some serious injuries. He broke his leg playing against Bolton Wanderers in 2010 which ruled him out for 12 months and on his return he was hampered by a persistent ankle ligament damage and he was informed by academy manager Andy Welsh that his contract would not be renewed. He left Manchester City in January 2012 after his contract was terminated by mutual consent. He had unsuccessful trials with Bradford City and Cheltenham Town and French side Le Havre. Smith then joined his local non-league side Helsby where his father was manager of the under-16 side. He helped Helsby gain promotion from the West Cheshire League Division Three to Division Two. After trial spells with Oxford United and Stevenage signed for Huddersfield Town's under-21 team after being approached by Steve Eyre, his former coach at Man City.
Career
Huddersfield Town
Smith's first involvement with the first team came on 5 January 2013 when he was an unused substitute in Huddersfield's 1–0 away win over Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup. He made his debut on 24 September 2013 when starting the League Cup match away to Hull City, which Huddersfield lost 1–0. He made his league debut on 23 November 2013 as a starter in a 2–1 away win over Sheffield Wednesday. Smith signed a new contract with Huddersfield on 4 February 2014, which would keep him at the club until June 2016. Smith played 27 times in 2013–14 as Huddersfield finished in 17th. On 31 January 2015, Smith was airlifted to hospital with a head injury after colliding with the Huddersfield goalkeeper, Joe Murphy, during a 2–1 home defeat to Leeds United. He was discharged the following day. He made 44 appearances in 2014–15 as Town again finished in mid-table. His first goal for Huddersfield came on 19 January 2016 in their 5–2 away defeat to Reading in the FA Cup. Huddersfield now under the management of David Wagner had an uneventful 2015–16 campaign finishing in a lowly 19th. In August 2016 Smith signed a new contract with the Terriers keeping him contracted at the Kirklees Stadium until the summer of 2019. The 2016–17 season proved to be a successful one for Huddersfield as they reached the Championship play-off final, Smith scoring four goals in 47 games. Smith captained the team on 29 May in the 2017 EFL Championship play-off Final against Reading, which Huddersfield won 4–3 on penalties after a 0–0 extra-time draw. This meant Huddersfield were promoted to Premier Leaguefor the first time, and would play top-flight football for the first time in 45 years. In August 2017, he was appointed as Huddersfield's permanent club captain after the retirement of Mark Hudson. Huddersfield were tipped by many pundits as relegation favorites going into the 2017–18 season. They beat Crystal Palace 3–0 on the opening day of the season. After being a regular in the side in the first half of the season he missed most of the second after suffering a torn hamstring in December 2017. He returned towards the end of the campaign as Huddersfield secured their safety in the Premier League finishing in 16th. Smith drifted in and out of the side in 2018–19 due to the competition posed by Florent Hadergjonaj, making 16 appearances under Wagner and Jan Siewert as the team had a miserable campaign winning only three of their 38 matches and were relegated to the Championship.
Stoke City
Smith signed for Championship club Stoke City on 15 July 2019 on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee. Smith made his debut on the opening day of the 2019–20 season in a 2–1 defeat against Queens Park Rangers. The team made a bad start to the season under Nathan Jones and following a EFL Cup defeat at Crawley Townin September, Smith lost his place to Tom Edwards. Jones was replaced by Michael O'Neill in November and Smith became the regular right-back in the side for the remainder of the season. Smith played 32 times in 2019–20, as Stoke successfully avoided relegation and finished in 15th position.
