City boosts line-up
High hopes for Smith as new striker
WELL- TRAVELLED Englishman Sam Smith has taken one of Gold Coast City’s two available visa player spots and is set to make his debut in the NPL Queensland season opener today.
Smith, 26, may be just the man to fill the boots of last year’s goalscoring gun Ben Litfin who is now with Bentleigh Greens in Melbourne after an aborted A-League stint with Wellington.
City coach Grae Piddick said Smith, a striker, had shown good signs at training and scored goals in pre-season matches after recovering from a broken hand.
Smith will definitely be in City’s squad heading to Cairns this morning for a Round 1 match against Far North Queensland Heat at Barlow Park at 6.30pm.
“Sam has looked good at training, he’s big and strong,” Piddick said of his new recruit.
Smith originally planned to play in Melbourne, where he sustained his broken hand at training, before electing to make contact with City about a season in the Gold Coast.
“I felt at this point in my football career it hasn’t gone how I’d envisaged back in England so it was time to take a chance,” Smith said.
“Myself and my partner, who is a registered nurse, have always been interested in the place and of course the climate and the beaches made for obvious reasons to come here.”
Smith brings an interesting background in English soccer with him. He was born in Derby and naturally supports Derby County in the English Championship.
“But I played a lot of lower league games in England,” he said.
Last season he was with Woking FC in the Conference National competition and before that with Brackley Town in Conference North.
“I’ve also been at Cambridge United and Lincoln City in English League Two,” Smith said.
Since moving to the Gold Coast, Smith has found a coaching role with Athlete Australia, which has operations at Bilambil and Tallebudgera.
Piddick said City would take a squad of 15 north for the rematch between last season’s semi-finalists.
The squad includes season newcomers Jarrod Kyle and Ethan Grimley who played the 2016 season with Gold Coast Premier League clubs Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach United respectively.
Grimley, in particular, was outstanding and finished the season as the competition’s leading goalscorer.
Meanwhile, the round of 16 of the local FGC Cup started last night with three matches and there are another five today.
Matches are Southport (Coast League 1) v Coomera (Premier League) at Ashmore Park (4pm), Tweed United (CL1) v Magic United (PL) at Arkinstall Park (5pm), Broadbeach United (PL) v Surfers Paradise (PL) at Nikiforides Park (5pm), Gold Coast Knights (PL) v Runaway Bay (CL1) at the Croatian Sports Centre (5pm) and Merrimac (CL1) v Musgrave (CL1) at Tony Cecco Field (5pm).
The Gold Coast com- ponent of the 2017 Westfield FFA Cup draw has also been completed, one involving seven Premier League clubs and Tweed United from CL1.
Palm Beach have drawn Magic United, Broadbeach are against Coomera, Tweed United against Surfers Paradise and Gold Coast Knights are playing Murwillumbah.
Dates and times for all matches are yet to be finalised.