Smart was most recently at West of Scotland First Division side St Cadoc’s, where he scored 12 goals last season to help them achieve promotion to the West of Scotland Premier.

Born in Nigeria, Smart moved to London aged 10 before relocating to Glasgow. He began his football career in the youth system at Partick Thistle before spells with Irvine Victoria and Saint Anthony’s. A move to America followed in 2012 as Smart, then aged 21, enrolled in a scholarship at Tiffin University. It was there that he played for the University soccer team, Tiffin Dragons and he would do so for two years before making the move back to Scotland.

Smart signed for League Two side Annan Athletic in 2015 and he would spend a season at Galabank which involved a huge Scottish Cup scalp as his side defeated Hamilton, then in the Premiership, 4-1. Brief spells at Stranraer, East Kilbride and Rossvale followed before a return to Annan. Not long after, Smart made the move to Clyde in the summer of 2017. He also had spells at Queens Park, Albion Rovers and Elgin City before signing for West of Scotland side Cumnock Juniors in July 2021. He then swapped Cumnock for St Cadoc’s in July 2022 where as previously mentioned, his goals would help his side secure promotion to the West of Scotland Premier Divison.

Smart left St Cadoc’s upon the expiration of his contract in June and has been training with the Rose since the squad returned for pre season. Smart featured in all three pre season games as a Trialist and certainly caught the eye of the supporters, scoring against Pollok and playing a big part in the goal against Edinburgh City.

We caught up with the man himself and he had this to say upon signing on at NDP - “I’m absolutely delighted to have signed for Bonnyrigg Rose this season. I have a lot of respect for the club and what they have achieved over the last few years.

I’m really excited to be back playing at this level. I hope to entertain the fans and play my part as best as possible.

I can’t thank the Gaffer enough for giving me this chance. I’m looking forward to getting started with the boys and see what this chapter has in store for us”

After securing the services of his new centre forward, we got lowdown from the gaffer - “Smart approached me in the summer asking if we would be interested is signing him. It had been a couple of seasons since I had seen him play so we invited him in for pre season.

Smart felt he dropped down the leagues too quickly having played senior for a number of clubs before and believed that he still had something to offer and wanted to prove to himself he could still do it.

He played against Bonnyrigg a few years ago now for Rossvale in the Scottish Cup and I actually tried to sign him for Berwick too and since then we have kind of kept in touch.

He’s 32 but incredibly fit, has a great attitude and really looks after himself. He’s done well over pre season and has fitted in really well with the boys. He’s experienced at this level and has a number strings to his bow and I think he’s great addition to the squad. He’s earned his contract and that’s what you want, players that are hungry and have a desire to do well.”

Welcome to the Rose, Smart!

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