Crawley Town pay tribute to former captain following retirement

Former Crawley Town captain Jimmy Smith announced he will retire from professional football earlier this week. Picture by Steve Robards

The midfielder was a loyal servant to the club, playing for the Reds between from 2014 to 2019 after his move from Stevenage.

Crawley chief executive officer Erdem Konyar said: “Jimmy was a fantastic servant to Crawley Town Football Club and a brilliant captain.

"It was a pleasure to work with him and I wish him all the best for the future.”

The 34-year-old started his career at Chelsea in 2015 before he spent time out on loan at the likes of Norwich City, Queen’s Park Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday.

Smith then spent four years at Leyton Orient before enjoying a year at Stevenage.

He joined the Reds as a free agent in 2014 after manager John Gregory knew of him from his time at Queen’s Park Rangers.

On the midfielder’s arrival, Gregory said: “He's an aggressive, energetic midfield player and I like his attitude. He's a warrior and he galvanises the players around him.

"He's got a lot of experience at this level and I think he's capable of even more and I'm delighted he's coming to Crawley because I think he can really improve our squad."

Smith only scored twice in the league across his first two campaigns at the club but then managed to score 17 times in League Two between the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons, where he excelled as club captain under Dermot Drummy and Harry Kewell.