Famous Players – The 2010’s

Nathan Smith (“Smudge”)

Central defender Nathan came through the Academy set up at the Vale before signing his first professional contract at 18 years of age in June 2014. He then had a loan spell at Stafford Rangers and played a full season at Torquay on loan, where he was voted Player of the Year, before making his Vale first team debut on the opening day of the 2016-17 season.

He quickly established himself as a key part of the defensive set up and played every game of the campaign picking up all five of the club’s end of season awards, including Player of the Year.

He then played in all 54 of Vale’s games the following season and when he was left out of team in August 2018 he had completed 110 successive first team games since his debut 2 years earlier.

By March 2019 he had reached 150 appearances for the club before the age of 23, the youngest Vale player to reach that milestone since Billy Paynter in 2005.  He was named the club’s Young Player of the Year for the second time in 3 seasons.

Nathan’s solid, consistent performances and near ever present status resulted in him being awarded the captaincy in 2023.  He also won 2 Player of the Year awards during his time at the Vale which ended in 2025 when he moved to Tranmere Rovers.

His total of 428 appearances for the Vale puts him seventh in in the list of the club’s all-time appearance makers. He may not have been the most technically accomplished player but his determination and reliability made Smudge a definite cult hero.