Do You Remember Them #20- Alexey Smertin

Biodata

Full Name: Aleksey Gennadyevich Smertin

Nationality: Russian

Date of Birth: 1 May 1975

Position: Midfielder

Former Clubs:

1992- 1993 Dinamo Barnaul

1994- 1997 Zarya Leninsk-Kuznetsky

1997- 1998 Uralan Elista

1999- 2000 Lokomotiv Moscow

2000- 2003 Bordeaux

2003- 2006 Chelsea

2003- 2004 Portsmouth (loan)

2005- 2006 Charlton Athletic (loan)

2006 Dynamo Moscow

2007- 2008 Fulham

International Career:

1998- 2006 Russia

Achievement:

Lokomotiv Moscow

2000 Russian Cup

Bordeaux

2002 Coupe de la Ligue

Chelsea

2004- 2005 League Cup

2004- 2005 Premier League

Career

In the summer of 2003, Roman Abramovich purchased Chelsea from Ken Bates for 140mil Pound. As a Russian billionaire who loves football, Abramovich was keen to sign Russian players for Chelsea to provide a platform for them to play in the English Premier League. With his pedigree in his former clubs and the influence of the owner, Chelsea signed him on that summer as one of the first few signings made under the Roman Abramovich era. The player that Chelsea signed on that summer is, Alexey Smertin.

Alexey Smertin started his career at his hometown club, Dinamo Barnaul and get his senior football debut at the age of 17. However, Dinamo Barnaul got relegated in his second season and Smertin was subsequently moved on to another Russian second division club, Zarya Leninsk-Kuznetsky. This is the place where Smertin nurtured his football talents as he played for this club for more than 120 matches, scoring 13 times in process as a defensive midfielder. Three years later, Smertin’s talent had caught the attention of the clubs from the Russian top league and signed for Uralan Elista. He was one of the top players in Uralan Elista and he even played as their captain at the second half of the season. In his only season in Uralan Elista, Smertin scored 3 goals and registered 1 assist to help his team to finished 8th in the league. At the same period, Smertin got his international debut at the age of 22. However, his international debut was not a good memory as he got himself sent off by receiving his second yellow in the 75th minutes

Smertin’s time in Uralan Elista proved to be very brief as he was signed by the Russian giant, Lokomotiv Moscow on the next season on a free. The improvement of the team quality in overall did help Smertin to further developed his footballing talent at a higher level. With him at the middle of the park and a young Dmitriy Bulykin up top, this Lokomotiv Moscow side looks exciting to watch in a long term perspective. In his first season in Lokomotiv Moscow, he helped his team to finish 2nd in the league and winning the Russian Cup. His form was even better in the second season as he helped his Lokomotiv Moscow side to finish top four in the league during his time at the club. However, Smertin’s time in Moscow is relatively short too as he signed by French side Bordeaux for 3mil at the halfway of the Russian season. This is the first time for him to play on a top-class foreign league.

Despite playing on a foreign league for the first time, Smertin started to showcase why Bordeaux bought him from his homeland. He helped Bordeaux to finish 4th in the league in his debut season and there is even one point that Bordeaux was on top of the table. In the second season, Smertin helped his team to finish 6th in the league. His performance in French league had earned him to represent Russia at 2002 FIFA World Cup. This is the first international football tournament that he participated in. Smertin played in two of the three matches in the tournament as Russia was knocked out at the group stage. After a disappointing tournament in Japan, Smertin returned to Bordeaux stronger as he helped his team to finish 4th place in the 2002-2003 season. This time, they are only four points behind the eventual winner, Lyon.

In the summer of 2003, Smertin signed for Chelsea as one of the first signings under Roman Abramovic era. He was almost immediately loaned out to a newly promoted Portsmouth side. In his first season in England, he helped Portsmouth to escape relegation and finished a respectable 13th place in the league. His most notable performance was the match where Portsmouth beat the defending champion, Manchester United in April 2004. The midfield partnership between him and Amdy Faye had provided the required midfield solidity for the Fratton Park side to survive in the Premier League. With the impressive performance in the league, Smertin was also selected as captain for Russia national team in the Euro 2004 in Portugal, where he was once again knocked out from the group stage.

Smertin returned to London after a successful loan spell. However, the midfield spot in Chelsea for the 2004-2005 season is more competitive than ever as they have the likes of Frank Lampard, Claude Makelele and Tiago Mendes in the same spot. His first and only goal in the Chelsea shirt was the only highlight of his career in the Stamford Bridge. Despite Chelsea won the English Premier League title on that season, Smertin was just a bit-part player in the team. The addition of Michael Essien had also signified that Smertin time in Stamford Bridge is on a countdown. He was then loaned out to Charlton Athletic for the 2005-2006 season.

Smertin was an immediate starter for Charlton Athletic and formed a formidable midfield partnership alongside Matt Holland and Radostin Kishishev in the team. His performance in The Valley had helped the club to almost reached a top-half finish in the league as they are just 3 points behind the 10th place Manchester City at the end of February. It looked like his career in England was just about to revive. However, strange things happened to him and he has no control over this weird situation. Despite his better performance in Charlton Athletic, Smertin was recalled by Chelsea on February and subsequently sold him to Dynamo Moscow for a fee of just 1mil within one week.

This Dynamo Moscow side was actually on a downward spiral as the whole team was underperform throughout the whole season. Smertin played for most of the matches in the league as a starter and he could not ignite the disappointing Dynamo Moscow side. In fact, this Dynamo Moscow side was just finished one place above the relegation zone at the end of the season. This has forced Dynamo Moscow to revamp the whole squad and transfer-listed him and other players such as Maniche, Costinha and Francisco Lima. Smertin was then signed by Fulham on January 2007.

Smertin’s debut for Fulham was one month later against Bolton Wanderers. In his first season, Smertin helped Fulham to barely escape relegation by just one point above the 18th placed Sheffield United. His 2007-2008 season started very well as he scored 2 goals and registered 1 assist in the opening 5 matches for Fulham. The revival of his career seems imminent. Unfortunately, the arrival of Danny Murphy on transfer deadline day restricted his playing time. Injuries had also hampered his career in Craven Cottage. The Fulham manager at that time, Roy Hodgson had even informed him that he was free to leave the club as he was not in his plan for the upcoming season. When the club cancelled his contract on August 2008, Smertin hung up his boots with immediate effect.

Post Retirement

After retirement, Smertin had discovered his new career in politics. In March 2009, he was elected as an MP in the Altai region of Russia. Smertin was named Russian Football Union anti-racism and discrimination inspector ahead of the 2018 World Cup on February 2017. In October 2018, he was appointed director of regional policies and international relations of the Russian Football Union (while keeping his anti-racism position).

#Smertin #Russia #Bordeaux #Chelsea #Fulham