Rarely used by Bolton, he was instead loaned out to Macclesfield Town, Scunthorpe United, Rochdale, and Preston North End before he signed permanently with Port Vale in 2004.
In August 2010, he moved to Belgium to play for one season with Olympic Charleroi, before he returned to England with Whitby Town a year later.
[4] He started his professional career at Hartlepool United in 1998 and featured three times at left-back in the Third Division under Mick Tait and once in the Football League Trophy under caretaker managers Paul Baker and Brian Honour.
[4] After his release, Smith joined non-League team Barrow, but played only one game before moving on to Bishop Auckland.
[5] In March 2001, Smith joined Football League First Division club Bolton Wanderers on a short contract deal after impressing during a week-long trial.
Smith was loaned to Macclesfield Town for two months to gain some experience in December 2001 and scored two goals in eight league games.
[6] He still struggled to get into the first team at Bolton, playing in one Premier League match away to West Ham United, again the last game of the season.
[12] Smith made his Carlisle début in a goalless draw at Brentford,[13] scoring his first goal at Doncaster Rovers a week later.
Smith was released from Carlisle at the end of 2008–09 after having played just twenty games all season, with the club narrowly avoiding relegation out of League One.