PNE 'Legends' (3)

Andy Smith


Yet another woeful Craig Brown signing, who was tipped as a future striking star, after a prolific time playing for the mighty Glentoran in Northern Ireland. He signed for PNE in 2004 for £130,000. He never even looked like bagging a single goal in his 14 appearances for the club, and is arguably one of the worst players to ever wear the North End number 10 shirt.

He was sent out on loan a couple of times to the likes of Stockport and Motherwell but still failed to score, then he had the opportunity to go on loan and become a hero at Cheltenham Town. Who in the 2006-2007 season asked their fans to help raise the funds required for a loan player, which they brilliantly did. Unfortunately for the Cheltenham fans the player their hard earned money would be spent on was Andy Smith.

'... from joining PNE in 2004 Smith failed to score for 5 years...'

His time at Cheltenham was farcical, he played two games and needless to say didn't score in either of them. But he then refused to sit on the bench for an FA Cup tie and was promptly returned back to PNE days after. How mad would you be if your were at Cheltenham fan?

In fact from joining PNE in 2004 Smith failed to score for 5 years, including a period at Portadown where he  did not turn up for training for over two months, he finally scored for Ballymena United in 2009 after a series of unsuccessful trials at various clubs. He stayed at Ballymena for two years making 49 appearances and scoring 10 goals.

Andy Smith definitely goes down as a 'Legend' for his clear lack of ability, terrible blonde highlights and the rapid decline of his footballing career after he signed for North End. But I bet Cheltenham fans dislike him even more than we do.