Matt Smith

Defensive Midfielder - Newport County
21 Nov 2026
Saturday
Process
Overview Personal Contract News 4 Transfers Relations Events 57 Awards Matches History

Marked for Matt Smith

14 Edition

The Newport County Courier

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout2 Nov 2026

Alex Borto keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Newport County may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad2 Nov 2026

A falling-out at Newport County

Liam Grimshaw and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match31 Oct 2026

Newport County come up short against Grimsby Town

Grimsby Town left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Match27 Oct 2026

Newport County come up short against Notts County

Notts County left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings2 Nov 2026

Both jobs done by Matt Smith — 6.99

A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 10 actions, 6.99, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.

The dugout2 Nov 2026

The manager makes an example of Liam Grimshaw

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Market2 Nov 2026

Talks stall between Newport County and Charlie Goode

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

The dugout2 Nov 2026

A promise honoured at Newport County

Something was said to Remi Matthews and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

The dugout2 Nov 2026

Samuel Wood faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Samuel Wood after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

In brief

Back issues
11 Edition

The Newport County Courier

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad12 Oct 2026

Amin Nabizada in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newport County this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad12 Oct 2026

Matt Smith signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Matt Smith and Newport County agree another 3 years.

Squad12 Oct 2026

Time is catching up with Adrián Flores

Everybody at Newport County saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 39 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.

Squad12 Oct 2026

Too much change too quickly at Newport County

18 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

The dugout12 Oct 2026

Jordan Wright gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout12 Oct 2026

Michael Spellman has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Newport County will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

In brief

3 Edition

The Newport County Courier

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Transfer targets17 Aug 2026

Sydie Peck will not be coming to Newport County

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Sheffield United is saying, and nobody at Newport County is enjoying the guessing.

Player ratings17 Aug 2026

Matt Smith pops up at the right end — 7.61

7.61, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

Player ratings17 Aug 2026

The game went through Kimarni Smith — 7.66

Marked 7.66 on 15 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.

Squad17 Aug 2026

Harry McKirdy in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Newport County this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom17 Aug 2026

1 academy graduates step up at Newport County

Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.

Transfer targets17 Aug 2026

Newport County rebuffed over Toby Savin

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Wigan Athletic have kept their man, and Newport County go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Match15 Aug 2026

Matt Smith sends Newport County past Salford City

It finished 2‑1, and it was Matt Smith’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Newport County.

Market17 Aug 2026

Anthony Watson steps up from the Newport County academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Anthony Watson has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Squad17 Aug 2026

This league is too small for Charlie Goode

He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Newport County will not keep him by pretending otherwise.

In brief

1 Edition

The Newport County Courier

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad3 Aug 2026

Aaron Nemane gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Aaron Nemane has just signed for Newport County, and for once the answer mattered.

Market3 Aug 2026

Harry McKirdy comes home

The shirt still fits. Harry McKirdy is back at Newport County, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.

Transfer targets3 Aug 2026

Blackburn Rovers tell Newport County: Igor Tyjon is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Squad3 Aug 2026

The formation has left Harry McKirdy behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Newport County will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

Squad3 Aug 2026

Matt Smith stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Matt Smith and Newport County agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Market3 Aug 2026

Still no ink between Newport County and Harry McKirdy

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Newport County, another week without a signature from Harry McKirdy.

Squad3 Aug 2026

Tempers go at Newport County

Liam Shephard was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Transfer targets3 Aug 2026

A loan move for Alex Borto is in the works

Newport County have made the call to Fulham. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

The dugout3 Aug 2026

Lewis Jamieson knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lewis Jamieson trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief