Dean Smith (born 19 March 1971) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Major League Soccer club Charlotte FC.

Smith was appointed as Aston Villa manager in October 2018 and took the club from 15th in the Championship to the Premier League via the play-offs in the 2018–19 season, and then to the 2020 EFL Cup final.

Smith was offered schoolboy terms at Newcastle United at the age of 15 but was released when the club decided to focus on local players.

[3] As the club's designated penalty kick taker, Smith scored 26 goals in 146 appearances in all competitions during his time at Edgar Street.

He scored four goals in 51 games in 2001–02, but Paul Brush's team struggled and finished in mid-table, closer to the relegation zone than the play-offs, though they were 16 points above the drop.

After working as a youth coach at Leyton Orient from January 2005, Smith was promoted to assistant manager toward the end of the 2004–05 season.

[13] Taking over managerial duties with his side nine points adrift at the foot of League One, Smith managed to steer Walsall out of the drop zone before the season's end.

[15] His team made up the difference over February, and a 1–0 win over promotion-chasing Southampton on 1 March saw Walsall climb out of the relegation zone for the first time since October.

He let fourteen players go in the summer of 2011, including Darren Byfield, Jonny Brain, Clayton McDonald, Paul Marshall, Matt Richards, Steve Jones, Aaron Lescott, David Bevan, Julian Gray, and Tom Williams.

He then signed goalkeeper Dávid Gróf; defenders Mat Sadler and Lee Beevers;[17] midfielders Kevan Hurst,[18] Claude Gnakpa,[19] Adam Chambers, and Anton Peterlin;[20] and striker Ryan Jarvis.

[21] Also during the campaign he boosted his squad with loan signings Dave Martin,[22] Mark Wilson, Andy Halliday, and Florent Cuvelier.

[30] He also brought in a number of players on loan, including: Karl Darlow (21), Sam Mantom (20), Aaron McCarey (20), and Craig Westcarr (27).

[36] This came after the club announced a £10,000 profit on the previous campaign as Smith's 'Total Football' approach yielded a mid-table position for the young Walsall team, in addition to praise from pundits and fans.

During a fine start to the 2013–14 season, Smith, affectionately nicknamed "Ginger Mourinho" by the Walsall fans, took the club to an unlikely promotion push.

Smith released top-scorer Craig Westcarr at the end of the season, along with Troy Hewitt, Nicky Featherstone, James McQuilkin, and Shane Lewis.

[55] Brentford finished the 2015–16 season in ninth place, during which time Smith sold Toumani Diagouraga and James Tarkowski for a combined £3.6 million.

[56] In building for the 2016–17 season Smith signed 18 players, including Romaine Sawyers (free transfer) and Rico Henry (£1.5 million) from previous club Walsall.

[59] Brentford finished the 2017–18 season in ninth-place and were "widely regarded as the Championship's entertainers" after Smith built an attractive passing style of play on a shoestring budget.

[60] On 10 October 2018, Smith was appointed manager of 15th-placed Championship club Aston Villa, with John Terry as his assistant coach.

[63] He immediately managed to reinvigorate the Villa attack, and only a controversial injury-time equaliser from local rivals West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns kept them from a place in the top 6 by 7 December.

[71] The club spent a net total of £144.5 million to bring in 12 players in the summer 2019 transfer window: Jota, Anwar El Ghazi, Wesley, Kortney Hause, Matt Targett, Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa, Björn Engels, Trézéguet, Douglas Luiz, Tom Heaton and Marvelous Nakamba.

[74] In the league though, Villa were four points deep inside the relegation zone with four games left to play of the 2019–20 season, but pulled off what he called a "magnificent achievement" to clinch survival on the last day with a 1–1 draw at West Ham United.

Chief Executive Christian Purslow stated that the decision was made after Aston Villa had not continued to improve in the 2021–22 season as they had done in previous years.

[94] On 15 November 2021, Smith signed a two-and-a-half-year deal to become the new Norwich City head coach, replacing the outgoing Daniel Farke.

[96] Norwich climbed out of the relegation zone on 21 January with a 3–0 win at Watford, having beaten Everton at Carrow Road six days previously.

[98] On 27 December 2022, Smith was sacked as Norwich City head coach after a run of just three wins in thirteen Championship matches saw the club fall from first in October to fifth in the table and twelve points off the top two; sporting director Stuart Webber said the decision was taken to "give ourselves the best possible chance of achieving our objective of promotion to the Premier League this season", whilst pundits also criticised Smith for his style of play.

[101] He secured nine points from his games in charge, which were ultimately not enough to keep the team in the league, with the club's relegation confirmed on the final day of the season.

[106] On the eve of the 2019 play-off final, Dean Smith visited his father and told him "The next time I see you, I'll be a Premier League manager.