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Kelly Smith (born 29 October 1978 in Watford) is
an England|English football (soccer)|football
player who currently plays in England for Arsenal
L.F.C.|Arsenal Ladies. Previously, she was the
only English player to play in the Women's United
Soccer Association, the former professional
women's league in the United States.

While growing up in the London area, she regularly
played football on boys' teams, and developed her
skills in the women's section of Arsenal
F.C.|Arsenal. In 1996, she scored two goals and
assisted on the third in a 3-0 win over Liverpool
L.F.C.|Liverpool that secured the FA Women's
Premier League National Division|Premier League
title. She then went to West Herts College, but
transferred a year later to Seton Hall University
in the United States.

In her first year at Seton Hall in 1997, she set
scoring records for the Big East Conference and
became the first athlete in any sport to be the
conference's (Offensive) Player of the Year and
Newcomer of the Year in the same season. The
following two seasons, she was the leading scorer
not only in the Big East, but in the whole of NCAA
Division I, and was named Big East Offensive
Player of the Year both years. At the end of her
college career, the school retired her uniform
number (6); she became the first Seton Hall
athlete in any sport other than basketball to have
a number retired.

After her graduation from Seton Hall in 2000, she
was drafted by the Philadelphia Charge of the
WUSA, and stayed with the team until the league
went under in 2003. However, she only played one
full season (2001) in the league. In 2002, she
missed most of the season after tearing the
anterior cruciate ligament|ACL in her right knee,
and missed much of 2003 after reinjuring the same
knee. In 2004, she played for the New Jersey
Wildcats in the W-League, but she was injured yet
again, breaking her leg.

Smith returned to England and Arsenal in the fall
of 2004. However, she was yet again hampered by
injury, this time by a stress fracture in her
foot. She returned to action at the end of the
2004-05 season, scoring a spectacular goal from 30
metres out against Charlton Athletic
W.F.C.|Charlton that clinched the Premier League
title for Arsenal.

She has played for the England women's national
football team|England national team since age 16.
When healthy, she is generally considered to be
one of the world's top female players; former
United States women's national soccer team|USA
head coach April Heinrichs asserted that Smith
would be an automatic choice for the USA team if
she had been eligible.

Smith was voted Women's International Player of
the Year in 2005.

==External links==
*http://www.kellysmithsoccer.com Official site
*http://www.thefa.com/Womens/EnglandSenior/Players
AndCoaches/Postings/2004/10/KellySmith_profile.htm
Profile at The FA official site