Daniel Trickett-Smith

Daniel Trickett-Smith

Personal information
Full name	Daniel Thomas Trickett-Smith [1]
Date of birth	(1995-09-08) 8 September 1995 (age 29) [2]
Place of birth	Newcastle-under-Lyme, England [2]
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) [3]
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder; forward
Team information
Current team	Hednesford Town
Youth career
20??–2012	Crewe Alexandra
2012–2016	Liverpool
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2016–2017	Sacramento Republic	21	(2)
2017–2019	Leek Town	45	(17)
2019–2021	Port Vale	0	(0)
2019	→ Leek Town (loan)	11	(4)
2019	→ Curzon Ashton (loan)	6	(1)
2020	→ FC United of Manchester (loan)	5	(0)
2020	→ Leek Town (loan)	3	(3)
2021–2024	Leek Town	82	(41)
2024–	Hednesford Town	0	(0)
International career
2010	England U16	3	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:23, 17 May 2024 (UTC)

Daniel Thomas Trickett-Smith (born 8 September 1995) is an English footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Northern Premier League Division One West club Hednesford Town.

Liverpool signed him from Crewe Alexandra for a fee of £300,000 in 2012, and he turned professional at the club the following year. He spent three years at Anfield without making a first-team appearance. He then spent two seasons with American United Soccer League side Sacramento Republic before returning to England to join Leek Town in September 2017. He was signed by Port Vale in January 2019 and loaned back to Leek Town. He joined Curzon Ashton on loan in September 2019 to FC United of Manchester in February 2020 and again to Leek Town in October 2020. He featured in three cup games during his two-and-a-half seasons at Vale Park before rejoining Leek Town in July 2021. He played for Leek on the losing side of the 2023 and 2024 Staffordshire Senior Cup finals and helped the club to win the Northern Premier League Division One West title in the 2023–24 campaign. He joined Hednesford Town in June 2024.

Club career

Liverpool

Trickett-Smith signed with Liverpool from Crewe Alexandra in the summer of 2012 for a fee of £300,000, with the potential to rise to £1 million. ^[4] He initially did well for the "Reds", and was reported to be en route to manager Brendan Rodgers's first-team after he helped the youth team to reach the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup. ^[5] He signed professional forms at Anfield in July 2013. ^[6] However, he then struggled with injuries and was released by new manager Jürgen Klopp after his contract expired in summer 2016. ^[7]

"What has happened to Dan is a good example of what can happen [to young players who leave the club too soon]. He left us for Liverpool and it was a real shame because I think he would have played in our first-team. I just couldn't convince him and his dad that staying here was the best option."

— Former Crewe manager Dario Gradi speaking in June 2016. ^[8]

Sacramento Republic

On 19 May 2016, Trickett-Smith signed with American United Soccer League side Sacramento Republic; head coach Paul Buckle said that "I have seen him train and he is a very, very talented player". ^[9] He made his competitive debut ten days later in a 1–1 draw with Swope Park Rangers at Bonney Field. ^[10] He scored his first goal for the "Quails" in a 6–2 victory over Rio Grande Valley on 22 June. ^[11] This was his only goal in nine competitive appearances during the 2016 season. He featured 14 times in the 2017 season, scoring two goals. He was released by mutual consent on 18 August 2017. ^[12]

Leek Town

Upon his return to England in September 2017, Trickett-Smith signed for Northern Premier League Division One South side Leek Town, who were managed by former Crewe coach Neil Baker. ^[13] He made his debut on 16 September, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute for Niall Maguire in a 0–0 with Spalding United at Harrison Park. ^[14] He scored his first goals for the "Blues" ten days later, securing a brace in a 3–0 victory over Sheffield. ^[15] He ended the 2017–18 season with 13 goals in 38 league and cup appearances. He opened the 2018–19 season with a brace in a 4–0 win at Skelmersdale United. ^[16] He went on to score a hat-trick in a 4–1 New Years Day win over Newcastle Town. ^[17]

Port Vale

On 31 January 2019, Trickett-Smith joined EFL League Two side Port Vale on a deal to run until summer 2021 before being loaned back to Leek Town for the rest of the season. ^[18] He was named on the Northern Premier League West Division team of the season for the 2018–19 campaign, alongside Leek teammate Danny Roberts. ^[19] Leek reached the play-off final after finishing third in the league, but were beaten 2–1 by Radcliffe to miss out on promotion. ^[20]

Speaking in July 2019, manager John Askey said that he would look to loan Trickett-Smith to a higher-level club than Leek Town. ^[21] On 13 September, Trickett-Smith joined National League North side Curzon Ashton on a two-month loan. ^[22] He made a brief cameo for the "Nash" the following day, before scoring a long-range strike on his full debut on 28 September, in a 2–1 defeat at Farsley Celtic. ^[23] During this loan spell he also made his debut for the "Valiants" in a 2–1 victory over Newcastle United U21 in an EFL Trophy group stage game at Vale Park on 11 November. ^[24] On 21 February 2020, he went out on loan to Northern Premier League Premier Division side FC United of Manchester. ^[25]

On 13 October 2020, Trickett-Smith returned to former club Leek Town on loan for the first half of the 2020–21 season. ^[26] He scored three goals in five games before the Northern Premier League was suspended due to restrictions put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic in England. ^[27] He was not registered in the EFL squad for Port Vale during the second half of the 2020–21 season and was released by new manager Darrell Clarke in May 2021. ^[28]

Return to Leek Town

Trickett-Smith returned to Leek Town permanently after his release from Port Vale. ^[29] He scored 19 goals in 38 appearances throughout the 2021–22 campaign. ^[30] He was the joint-third highest goalscorer in the Northern Premier League Division One West, but could not prevent Leek losing 4–1 to Runcorn Linnets in the play-off semi-finals. ^[31] He scored seven goals in 42 games across the 2022–23 season, including an appearance in the Staffordshire Senior Cup final defeat to Rushall Olympic and in the play-off semi-final defeat to Runcorn Linnets. ^{[30] [32] [33]} Leek were crowned Northern Premier League Division One West champions at the end of the 2023–24 season. ^[34] He scored 19 goals in 32 games during the campaign, including another appearance in the Staffordshire Senior Cup final where Leek again lost 1–0 to Rushall Olympic. ^[30]

Hednesford Town

On 16 June 2024, Trickett-Smith signed with Hednesford Town to remain in the crowned Northern Premier League Division One West. ^[35] He played in the FA Cup win over National League club Gateshead. ^[36]

International career

Trickett-Smith made three appearances for England under 16s. ^[4]

Career statistics

As of match played 16 April 2024

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Sacramento Republic	2016 [37]	United Soccer League	8	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	9	1
	2017 [37]	United Soccer League	13	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	14	2
	Sacramento Republic total		21	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	23	3
Leek Town	2017–18 [38]	Northern Premier League Division One South	33	11	0	0	1	0	4 [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 2]	2	38	13
	2018–19 [39]	Northern Premier League Division One West	23	10	4	4	1	0	3 [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 3]	0	31	14
Port Vale	2018–19 [40]	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2019–20 [41]	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 4]	0	1	0
	2020–21 [42]	League Two	0	0	0	0	1	0	1 [lower-alpha 4]	0	2	0
	Port Vale total		0	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	3	0
Curzon Ashton (loan)	2019–20 [37]	National League North	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1
FC United of Manchester (loan)	2019–20 [43]	Northern Premier League Premier Division	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Leek Town (loan)	2020–21 [44]	Northern Premier League Division One East	3	3	0	0	0	0	2 [lower-alpha 2]	0	5	3
Leek Town	2021–22 [30]	Northern Premier League Division One West	34	18	2	1	0	0	2 [lower-alpha 5]	0	38	19
	2022–23 [30]	Northern Premier League Division One West	34	7	1	0	0	0	7 [lower-alpha 6]	0	42	7
	2023–24 [30]	Northern Premier League Division One West	24	16	5	3	0	0	4 [lower-alpha 7]	0	32	19
	Leek Town total		151	65	12	8	2	0	22	2	144	75
Hednesford Town	2024–25 [45]	Northern Premier League Division One West	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Career total			183	68	14	9	3	0	24	2	181	79

1. Appearance/s in the Staffordshire Senior Cup.
2. Appearance/s in the FA Trophy.
3. Appearance/s in the play-offs.
4. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
5. 1 appearance in the FA Trophy and 1 appearance in the play-offs
6. 4 appearances in the FA Trophy, 2 appearances in the Staffordshire Senior Cup and 1 appearance in the play-offs
7. 2 appearances in the FA Trophy and 2 appearances in the Staffordshire Senior Cup

Honours

Individual

• Northern Premier League West Division team of the season: 2018–19 ^[19]

Leek Town

• Staffordshire Senior Cup runner-up: 2023, 2024 ^{[30] [32]}
• Northern Premier League Division One West: 2023–24 ^[34]

References

1. "Club List of Registered Players As At 18th May 2019" (PDF). EFL. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
2. "FootballSquads - Port Vale - 2020/2021". www.footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
3. "Daniel Trickett-Smith". www.sacrepublicfc.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
4. Hannah, Jim (28 December 2017). "Leek Town manager Neil Baker wants players to carry on the good work". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
5. "Liverpool Set to Release Young Talent Daniel Trickett-Smith 4 Years After Signing for £1m". 90min.com. 7 April 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
6. "Liverpool youngsters sign professional contracts". This Is Anfield. 3 July 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
7. Pearce, James (19 May 2016). "Liverpool youngster leaves club to play in America". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
8. "Dario: "Trickett-Smith Is The Prime Example"". www.crewealex.net. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
9. "Sacramento Signs Former Liverpool U21 Trickett-Smith". USL Championship. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
10. "Sacramento Republic vs. Swope Park Rangers - 29 May 2016 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
11. "Sacramento Republic vs. Rio Grande Valley - 22 June 2017 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
12. Ralph, Eddie (18 August 2017). "Sacramento Republic FC Release Midfielder Daniel Trickett-Smith". Sacramento Republic FC - USL. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
13. Smith, Peter (13 October 2017). "From Liverpool's next big thing to Leek: Trickett-Smith starts road back". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
14. "Leek Town 0 vs. 0 Spalding United - 16 September 2017 - First - Leek Town". www.pitchero.com. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
15. "Leek Town 3 vs. 0 Sheffield FC - 26 September 2017 - First - Leek Town". www.pitchero.com. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
16. "Skelmersdale United 0 vs. 4 Leek Town - 18 August 2018 - First - Leek Town". www.pitchero.com. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
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19. "NPL Teams of the Year 2019 - The Evo-Stik League". www.evostikleague.co.uk. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
20. Scott, Richard (4 May 2019). "Leek Town boss Neil Baker: I'm proud of my players but better team won today". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
21. Baggaley, Michael (30 July 2019). "Port Vale looking to send attacking midfielder on loan". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
22. Baggaley, Michael (13 September 2019). "Port Vale midfielder clinches loan move". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
23. McIntyre, Ed (28 September 2019). "Report: Farsley Celtic 2-1 Curzon Ashton". www.farsleyceltic.com. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
24. Baggaley, Michael (12 November 2019). "Port Vale 2, Newcastle United 1 - match report of Vale's Trophy win". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
25. "Club News Loan deal: Trickett-Smith". Port Vale F.C. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
26. Baggaley, Michael (13 October 2020). "Port Vale agree loan move for Dan Trickett-Smith and reduce squad to EFL limit". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
27. "Leagues vote to keep seasons suspended". BBC Sport. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
28. "2020/21 Retained List". Port Vale F.C. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
29. eeles, Jonathan (2 July 2021). "Registrations Open For The 2021/22 Season". www.pitchero.com. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
30. "Leek Town | Appearances | Daniel Trickett-Smith | Football Web Pages". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
31. "Leek Town 1 - 4 Runcorn Linnets - The Pitching In Northern Premier League". www.thenpl.co.uk. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
32. "Staffordshire Senior Cup final – Leek Town 0 - 1 Rushall Olympic". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
33. "Northern Premier League - West Division Play-off Semi final – Leek Town 1 - 3 Runcorn Linnets". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
34. Youlton, Clive (2 April 2024). "Unstoppable Leek Town clinch promotion as rivals hammered into submission". Stoke on Trent Live. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
35. "Hednesford Town Sign Daniel Trickett-smith". Hednesford Town F.C. 16 June 2024. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
36. Baggaley, Mike (17 October 2024). "Matt Hancock and Darren Moore have their say". Valiant's Substack. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
37. Daniel Trickett-Smith at Soccerway
38. "Fixtures and Results - First - Leek Town". www.pitchero.com. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
39. "Fixtures and Results - First - Leek Town". www.pitchero.com. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
40. "Games played by Daniel Trickett-Smith in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
41. "Games played by Daniel Trickett-Smith in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
42. "Games played by Daniel Trickett-Smith in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
43. "FC United of Manchester - Player Profile". www.fc-utd.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
44. "Fixtures and Results - First - Leek Town". www.pitchero.com. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
45. "Hednesford Town – Appearances – Daniel Trickett-Smith". footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 21 August 2024.