He played as a defender in the Football League between 1976 and 1980 for Plymouth Argyle and Wigan Athletic, making a total of 81 appearances scoring one goal.
Smart, who had come through the youth ranks at Plymouth Argyle played 9 matches, aged 18, for the club in the Second Division in the latter part of the 1976–77 season.
Folkestone achieved promotion to the Southern League Premier Division following the 1982–83 season and twice won the Kent Senior Cup, in 1983 and 1985.
During the 1990 close season Smart signed with Ashford Town[9] and in November 1990 he suffered the misfortune of breaking a leg; after he recovered, in February 1991 he joined Margate.
[10] He left them shortly after the start of the 1991–92 season to return to Hythe Town (for a role primarily as joint reserve team manager),[11] then after a short spell between March and April 1992 with Kent League Division Two club Folkestone Invicta[12] Smart finished the season with Southern League strugglers Canterbury City.