Despite being the subject of attention from bigger First Division Clubs, Smith stayed loyal to the Hull City cause and, though a series of injuries restricted him to just 10 goals in 23 appearances during 1908–09, he bounced back to spearhead his club's promotion challenge in 1909–10, notching no fewer than four hat-tricks in a haul of 32 goals from only 35 outings, making him the top scorer in Europe that season.
Smith desperately wanted to prove himself in the First Division and, though he began the 1910–11 season as a Hull City player, he was soon enticed to Sheffield United for a transfer fee of £500 where he was to score seven times in only 12 league games for the Blades, before Nottingham Forest signed him to spearhead an ultimately futile bid to avoid relegation.
Back in the Second Division with Forest, Smith quickly became disillusioned with the professional game and went on to spend time at non-league Nelson FC and York City before seeing out his career as a full-back for Heckmondwike in the Yorkshire League.
According to a report in the Hull Daily Mail he was described as: "Although only a small man, he is endowed with any amount of trickery, yet prefers to bustle his opponents and seems to take glory in charging a six-foot back.
"[3]Following the outbreak of World War I, Smith was enlisted in the York & Lancaster Regiment and was aged 29 when he was killed in action during the early days of September 1916 in the Battle of the Somme, leaving a widow and six children.