Will Smallbone

William Anthony Patrick Smallbone (born 21 February 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Championship club Stoke City on loan from Premier League club Southampton. Born in England, Smallbone represents the Republic of Ireland internationally.

Will Smallbone

Personal information
Full name	William Anthony Patrick Smallbone^[1]
Date of birth	(2000-02-21) 21 February 2000 (age 22)^[2]
Place of birth	Basingstoke, England^[3]
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)^[4]
Position(s)	Central midfielder
Club information
Current team	Stoke City (on loan from Southampton)
Number	18
Youth career
2008–2019	Southampton
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2019–	Southampton	16	(0)
2022–	→ Stoke City (loan)	25	(2)
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)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:06, 2 January 2023 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:54, 27 September 2022 (UTC)

Club career

Southampton

On 21 February 2017, Smallbone signed a professional contract with Southampton.^[5] Smallbone 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]

Stoke City (loan)

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]

International career

Smallbone made his debut for Republic of Ireland U21s against Italy U21s in October 2020.^[12] 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.^[13] 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.^[14][15] In November 2022, Smallbone was included in Stephen Kenny's senior squad for forthcoming friendlies.

Personal life

Smallbone was diagnosed with alopecia in 2021 whilst recovering from his ACL injury.^[16][17]

Career statistics

As of match played 29 January 2023

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		EFL Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Southampton U21	2016–17^[18]	—			—		—		1^[a]	0	1	0
	2017–18^[19]	—			—		—		1^[a]	0	1	0
	2018–19^[20]	—			—		—		3^[a]	0	3	0
	2019–20^[21]	—			—		—		1^[a]	0	1	0
	2021–22^[22]	—			—		—		1^[a]	0	1	0
	Total		—		—		—		7	0	7	0
Southampton	2019–20^[21]	Premier League	9	0	1	1	0	0	—		10	1
	2020–21^[23]	Premier League	3	0	0	0	0	0	—		3	0
	2021–22^[22]	Premier League	4	0	2	0	1	0	—		7	0
	Total		16	0	3	1	1	0	—		20	1
Stoke City (loan)	2022–23^[24]	Championship	25	2	1	0	1	0	—		27	2
Career total			41	2	4	1	2	0	7	0	54	3

1. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

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. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
10. Cope, Niall (23 July 2022). "Welcoming Will". Stoke City FC. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
11. "Preston 0-2 Stoke". BBC. 15 October 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
12. "Italy U21 2–0 Republic of Ireland U21". BBC Sport. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
13. "Smallbone and Odubeko inspire Ireland U21s to victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina". independent.
14. Diallo, Raf (6 June 2022). "Ireland see off Montenegro to boost Euro U-21 dreams". www.rte.ie.
15. "Smallbone continues scoring streak in Ireland win". Southampton FC. 6 June 2022.
16. "Injury and alopecia: Smallbone's story". Southampton FC. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
17. "Will Smallbone opens up on alopecia and injury challenges". RTE. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
18. "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
19. "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
20. "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
21. "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
22. "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
23. "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
24. "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 July 2022.

External links

• Will Smallbone at Soccerbase
• Will Smallbone at Soccerway
• Southampton FC Profile