In an interview with Soccer AM in 2002, the rising star of Leeds United was asked an array of questions but the answer to one of them has become notorious in west Yorkshire: “Is there a team you’d never play for?”
“Yeah, Man United,” the player in question uttered with a playful smirk etched across his face.
Alan Smith was adored by the Leeds faithful. With hair like a bearded collie and an attitude to make Marshall Mathers blush, Smith’s full-bodied commitment to the cause made him a hero at Elland Road.
As the club entered financial meltdown, Smith blossomed into one of the league’s most exciting strikers and usually ended up carrying his underperforming team-mates on his shoulders.
But, two years after his Soccer AM interview, Smith would make the move across the Pennines to Manchester United in a transfer soundtracked by thousands of Yorkshiremen gnashing their teeth.
“There had been talk about me singing in January and I spoke to Sir Alex Ferguson about it,” Smith explained, speaking to the UTD podcast last year. “But I couldn’t sign in January because I wanted to keep Leeds up.”
“I don’t want to make any excuse for signing for Manchester United because it was a football-based decision. From the club’s [Leeds] point of view, it was financial.
“I’d be doing myself a disservice if I didn’t sign for, arguably at that time, the biggest club in the world.” The £7million fee did nothing to pacify the Leeds fans, who quickly labelled their former hero ‘Judas’.
Not that United fans welcomed Smith with open arms either – a poll was set up that enquired ‘How much is too much for Alan Smith?’, with 38% saying £1 would be too much for the Leeds talisman.
But Sir Alex Ferguson was effusive about his new signing. “I have never been more impressed with a young player, his desire to play for Manchester United is fantastic,” he said.
“Certain young people come along with a special determination, and after speaking to him I expect that from Alan Smith. That desire will take him a long way.”
With the public backing of his manager, Smith set about proving his doubters wrong.
Making his first start in the Community Shield against Arsenal, the 23-year-old lashed home United’s equaliser with a fine volley from 20 yards following an awkward ricochet.
And, with his first goal wearing red already under his belt, Smith was full of confidence before the visit of Norwich City in August 2004.
The England striker…
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