Kevin Smart

DOB: 17th October 1958

Position: Defender

Season of first appearance: 1990/91

Season of last appearance: 1991/92

Full Appearances: 23

Substitute: 0

Goals: 0

Also played for:

Plymouth Argyle (41,0), Wigan Athletic (53+1,1), Folkestone Town, Folkestone, Hythe Town, Ashford Town, Folkestone Invicta, Canterbury City, Hythe United, Deal Town.

Player Profile:

5' 8" tall Newcastle-born defender who started his career at Plymouth where he made over 40 first-team appearances during the 1976/77 and 1977/78 campaigns.

In the summer of 1979, Kevin signed for Wigan and he played regularly in their first two seasons as a Football League club - 1978/79 and 1979/80.

In July 1980, he joined Folkestone and went on to spend eight years with the club. Kevin was Folkestone's 'Player of the Year' for 1986/87.

He signed for Hythe in the summer of 1988 and spent two seasons there, winning their 'Player of the Year' award for 1988/89.

In July 1990, Kevin moved on to Ashford but in November 1990 he suffered a broken leg in a friendly at Whitstable. Kevin initially tried to 'run off' the injury. After recovering, he was loaned to Margate in February 1991.

Kevin made his debut in a 2-1 home defeat against Dunstable on 16.2.91. He played as a centre-back and became a fixture in the Margate side for the remainder of 1990/91. He showed his versatility by also playing in midfield before settling into his favoured right-back role in the closing weeks of the season. The Thanet Times said that Kevin was "outstanding" in a 2-1 defeat at Andover on 13.4.91. He made a total of 17 appearances without scoring before the end of 1990/91.

Kevin started the 1991/92 campaign at right-back and played there in Margate's first two games of the new season. After missing two matches in August, he returned to the side for a run of four games, featuring twice at right-back and twice as a centre-back. On 14.9.91, Kevin was part of the Margate side humiliatingly beaten 2-1 at Tooting & Mitcham in the FA Cup and the tie was his last game for the club. He'd made six appearances during 1991/92 when he returned to Hythe a few days after the Tooting match.

Kevin became assistant manager of Hythe's reserve team but he also made a few appearances in the senior side before moving on to Folkestone Invicta at the start of March 1992.

After only a few weeks with Invicta, he joined Canterbury and finished the season there.

Kevin's was Canterbury's captain during 1992/93 but during the 1993/94 season he left City for a three-month spell with Kent County League club Hythe United. He returned to Canterbury in March 1994. On 20.8.94, Kevin scored an unlikely hat-trick in a 5-2 win at Darenth in the Kent League. He finally left City towards the end of the 1996/97 campaign aged 38 and joined Deal for the remainder of the season.

Kevin spent several years at Deal and, by 1998/99, he was their reserve team manager and still played when required. He continued in the role during 1999/00 and again made a few appearances. In May 2000, Kevin was a non-playing member of Deal's squad for their FA Vase win at Wembley but he left the club shortly afterwards.

During the 2005/06 season, he was involved with running Kent County League side Betteshanger.

In August 2013, Kevin turned out for a Folkestone Legends team in a charity match to celebrate former Thanet player John Lineham's 50th birthday and a host of other former Margate/Thanet players were also involved.

Kevin was a builder by trade.