Will Smallbone

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Will Smallbone
Personal information
Full name William Anthony Patrick Smallbone [1]
Date of birth (2000-02-21) 21 February 2000 (age 24) [2]
Place of birth Basingstoke, England [3]
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) [4]
Position(s) Central midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Southampton
Number 16
Youth career
2008–2019 Southampton
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2019– Southampton 59 (6)
2022–2023 → Stoke City (loan) 43 (3)
International career‡
2017 Republic of Ireland U18 1 (0)
2018–2019 Republic of Ireland U19 5 (2)
2020–2022 Republic of Ireland U21 8 (3)
2023– Republic of Ireland 7 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:57, 4 May 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 06:17, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

William Anthony Patrick Smallbone (born 21 February 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for EFL Championship club Southampton and the Republic of Ireland national team.

Contents

Club career

Southampton

2017–22

On 21 February 2017, Smallbone signed a professional contract with Southampton. [5] He made his professional debut for Southampton in a 2–0 FA Cup victory over Huddersfield Town on 4 January 2020, scoring the opening goal. [6] On 22 February 2020, Smallbone went on to make his Premier League debut in a 2–0 victory over Aston Villa. [7]

Having just started to appear regularly for the first team, on 16 January 2021, Smallbone suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in a 2–0 defeat at Leicester. As a result, he was expected to be out of action for up to six months. [8] On 26 October 2021, Smallbone made his first professional appearance since his injury, replacing Stuart Armstrong in Southampton's defeat to Chelsea after a penalty shootout in the EFL Cup. [9]

2022–23: Loan to Stoke City

On 23 July 2022, Smallbone joined Stoke City on a season-long loan. [10] He scored his first goal for Stoke in a 2–0 win at Preston North End on 15 October 2022. [11] Smallbone was a regular under Alex Neil in 2022–23, making 46 appearances, scoring three goals as Stoke finished in 16th position. [12]

2023–present

On 28 August 2023, Smallbone signed a three-year contract extension with Southampton. [13] He scored his first league goal for the club on 30 September 2023 in a 3–1 victory against Leeds United. [14]

International career

Smallbone qualified to play for the Republic of Ireland through his Kilkenny-born mother. [15] Smallbone made his debut for Republic of Ireland U21s against Italy U21s in October 2020. [16] On 3 June 2022, he scored his first goals for the Republic of Ireland U21 team, scoring a brace in a 3–0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 at Tallaght Stadium. [17] He followed that up by scoring a volley from outside the box three days later, to open the scoring in an eventual 3–1 win over Montenegro U21. [18] [19]

In November 2022, Smallbone was included in Stephen Kenny's senior squad for forthcoming friendlies. He made his debut on 22 March 2023 in a friendly match against Latvia, which ended in a 3–2 victory. [20] He won Player of the match award for his display against Latvia. [21]

Personal life

Smallbone was diagnosed with alopecia in 2021 whilst recovering from his ACL injury. [22] [23] In December 2022, he became an ambassador for Alopecia UK. [24] [25]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 4 May 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeague FA Cup EFL Cup OtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Southampton U21 2016–17 [26] ———1 [lower-alpha 1] 010
2017–18 [27] ———1 [lower-alpha 1] 010
2018–19 [28] ———3 [lower-alpha 1] 030
2019–20 [29] ———1 [lower-alpha 1] 010
2021–22 [30] ———1 [lower-alpha 1] 010
Total———7070
Southampton 2019–20 [29] Premier League 901100—101
2020–21 [31] Premier League300000—30
2021–22 [30] Premier League402010—70
2023–24 [32] Championship 4364000—476
Total5967110—677
Stoke City (loan) 2022–23 [33] Championship4332010—463
Career total102991207012010
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

International

As of match played 26 March 2024 [34]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Republic of Ireland 202350
202420
Total70

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References

  1. ↑ "Premier League clubs publish 2019/20 retained lists". Premier League. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  2. ↑ "Will Smallbone". 11v11. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  3. ↑ "Shoot For The Stars: Southampton's FA Cup Wonderkid Will Smallbone". Shoot. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  4. ↑ "Player profiles: Will Smallbone". Southampton F.C. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  5. ↑ "Smallbone pens first professional deal". Southampton FC. 21 February 2017. Archived from the original on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  6. ↑ "Southampton 2 Huddersfield Town 0". BBC Sport. 4 January 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  7. ↑ Collins, Ben (22 February 2020). "Southampton 2–0 Aston Villa: Some of my team have played way out of EFL Cup final – Dean Smith". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  8. ↑ "Will Smallbone: Southampton midfielder faces up to six months out with ACL injury". BBC Sport. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  9. ↑ Rose, Gary (26 October 2021). "Chelsea 1–1 Southampton (4–3 pens)". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  10. ↑ Cope, Niall (23 July 2022). "Welcoming Will". Stoke City FC. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  11. ↑ "Preston North End 0–2 Stoke". BBC. 15 October 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  12. ↑ "Stoke City loan star opens up about plans for next season". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  13. ↑ "Smallbone signs new three-year contract". Southampton FC. 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  14. ↑ "Southampton 3–1 Leeds United". BBC Sport. 30 September 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  15. ↑ "Will Smallbone won't be tempted by England switch". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  16. ↑ "Italy U21 2–0 Republic of Ireland U21". BBC Sport. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  17. ↑ O'Connor, Seán (3 June 2022). "Smallbone and Odubeko inspire Ireland U21s to victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  18. ↑ Diallo, Raf (6 June 2022). "Ireland see off Montenegro to boost Euro U-21 dreams". www.rte.ie.
  19. ↑ "Smallbone continues scoring streak in Ireland win". Southampton FC. 6 June 2022.
  20. ↑ Leahy, Ed (22 March 2023). "Chiedozie Ogbene secures hard-fought Ireland win against Latvia as Evan Ferguson opens his account". RTE.ie. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  21. ↑ O'Hehir, Paul (22 March 2023). "Stephen Kenny full of praise for Will Smallbone after Ireland debut". Irishmirror.ie. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  22. ↑ "Injury and alopecia: Smallbone's story". Southampton FC. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  23. ↑ "Will Smallbone opens up on alopecia and injury challenges". RTE. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  24. ↑ "Will Smallbone chats to Alopecia UK". Alopecia UK. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  25. ↑ House, Alfie (8 December 2022). "Inspiring Southampton midfielder opens up on Alopecia to help others". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  26. ↑ "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  27. ↑ "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  28. ↑ "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  29. 1 2 "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  30. 1 2 "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  31. ↑ "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  32. ↑ "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  33. ↑ "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  34. ↑ "Smallbone, Will". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
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