Football is certainly in the blood of Stirling Albion’s on-loan Heart of Midlothian striker Gordon Smith as his dad was a player back in the 1970s and his brother Kevin is now banging in goals for Notts County, who have just announced that Paul Ince is their new Manager.
Smith said, “My dad, also a Gordon, played at Hearts, Partick Thistle, Falkirk, East Fife, Meadowbank Thistle, and Berwick Rangers.
“Kevin was at Dundee United and had fairly productive spells on loan at Raith Rovers and he is now at Notts County.”
This Smith is earning rave reviews for his displays this season and he has been a major factor in Stirling’s growing agreement with life in the First Division. The 19-year-old has also scored for Livingston and Hearts during his short career and do not be surprised if he earns a new deal with the Tynecastle side on the back of goals scored in the red and white of Albion.
Like Alloa’s Darren Smith and Berwick Rangers’ Elliott Smith, Gordon was developed at boys club football in Edinburgh with this Smith saying, “I started off at Cavalry Park Boys Club and then joined Hibs when I was 12 and I stayed with them until I was 15.
“I joined Livingston and made my debut there as a 17-year-old when Marc Proctor put me on against St. Johnstone.
“I scored my first goal as a substitute against East Stirling in August 2008 and the then Manager, Roberto Landi, gave me my first start a couple of months later. However, my contract ran out there in 2009 and I joined Hearts.”
Smith’s debut for Hearts was high profile as he explained, “I came on as a substitute against Dynamo Zagreb in my first game in an UEFA Europa League Qualifying game and that was a great experience. Tynecastle was packed that night and they were a top European team.”
His first start kept the high profile theme going with Smith adding, “My first start came in the Edinburgh derby on 3rd January this year against Hibs and that was even more memorable as I scored. It was a volley right on half-time and as a Hearts fan, it was a bit special to do that on the ground of our great rivals.
“My only disappointment is that it was not the winner as Anthony Stokes got an equaliser in the second half.
“I started three more games, two against Aberdeen and one against St. Mirren and had a good few substitute appearances.”
Having had a taste of action, the 19-year-old wanted more commenting, “At the start of the season, I went to see the Hearts Manager, Jim Jefferies, as I wanted to be playing more often. He agreed that I could go out on loan and two days later, Stirling Albion got in touch.
“It was agreed that I could go out to the Doubletree Dunblane Stadium until January and I am really enjoying it. I am not too sure what will happen then but I believe that Stirling want to extend things so I will wait and see what happens.”
Life in the First Division did not come easy to the Second Division Champions after a summer that saw the club taken over by their Supporters Trust and Manager, Allan Moore, leave to join Morton.
Smith said, “The opening three games I played in were hard as we lost to Cowdenbeath, Falkirk and Dunfermline.
“I scored in the Dunfermline game and then scored the winner in our next game when we came from behind to defeat Partick Thistle. That was a really important victory and we have certainly kicked on since then and going to places like Raith Rovers and winning has really given us confidence.
“I scored in that game at Kirkcaldy as well right at the end to make it 2-0 and that was a good feeling as well. We then drew with Dundee before beating Partick 4-2 at the weekend.”
The win last Saturday was welcomed with Smith saying, “That was a really important win as keeping sides like Partick below us in the table is really important. I was really pleased to get two goals in that game and that is me up to six for the season now.”
Going on a good run of results is increasing confidence at Stirling with Smith saying, “The Manager, John O’Neill, and his assistant, Roddy Grant, keep telling us to believe in ourselves and the players are starting to do that and long may that continue.”
The Doubletree Dunblane Stadium club recently went continental to boost their pool by bringing in former Ajax kid Sylvano Comvalius and Smith reckons that Scottish football fans have not seen the best of the 23-year-old yet.
He said, “I have not been able to play much with Sylvano yet as we tend to play with one striker up front. From what I have seen, he looks a good player and he will do well for Stirling.”
Smith reckons his own development is being enhanced by his spell in the SFL saying, “Playing regularly is really helping as I feel sharper in games as my fitness is better but it is also important in terms of your mental development.”
The Tynecastle youngster explained, “You have to change your attitude as you are not playing in bounce games anymore. Fans are watching and you are playing for points and that brings a maturity that you would not get if you were not playing competitively.”
Smith splits his time between his two clubs saying, “I train at Hearts on a Monday during the day, Stirling on Tuesday and Thursday nights and then back to Hearts on a Friday. It seems to be going okay and I speak to Jim Jefferies regularly about my progress.”
These chats seem to involve a fair amount of teasing with Smith saying, “I went in last Monday feeling good about myself and he was joking that Partick Thistle defenders must have had a bad game if I scored two. To be fair to him, he then said well done and to keep it up so he knows what I am doing at Stirling.”
One thing missing for Smith at the moment is recognition from Scotland at Under-21 level and whilst it would be nice, he is not demanding it.
He said, “I have played for Scotland at Under 15, 16, 17 and 19 age levels so it would be great to get an Under-21 cap as well.
“However, my contract with Hearts expires at the end of this season and getting a new deal there is the priority for me. Anything that happens with Scotland would be a bonus.”
Next up for Smith and his Stirling team-mates is a trip to a Dunfermline Athletic side that turned them over earlier in the season when Andy Kirk scored a hat-trick in a 5-1 win.
He said, “We lost to Dunfermline heavily last time out and we need to do a lot better this weekend. They are a good team with really tricky wingers but we have grown a lot in the last four or five weeks and going to places like Raith Rovers and winning shows what we can do.
“We have not lost a game in a wee while and are sitting in seventh place just now and we would probably settle for that once this game is over.”
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