Local Futsal and football (Glenorchy Knights) player Corey Smith will join Middlesbrough Futsal Club in England early next year.The Teeside club is pushing for the national Futsal title in the UK.
“Corey [Smith] is moving to Teesside with a whole load of experience and desire to do well,” said Middlesbrough Futsal Club chairman and first-team manager, Damon Shaw.
“He’s shown incredible initiative with a big move and he has the right personality to fit into our tight-knit club.
“It shows Middlesbrough can attract the best players, not just from the local area, but all over the world, and it shows our ambitions and the growth of Futsal in England that players are wanting to come here to play.”
Smith will be the third international player to come to play for Middlesbrough following Uruguay’s Nacho de Leon and current talisman, Spanish U/21 international Ernesto Casan.
“Corey will, hopefully, add to the squad as we aim for glory at the business end of the season and he also wants to work on building up a strong junior schools program, something he has done with great success in Australia already,” Shaw said.
“I am really looking forward to welcoming him to Teesside and working with him to develop the club at all levels.
“I know he was attracted here over other bigger cities because of our set-up, including the support we get from the fans and our ambitions of playing in The UEFA Futsal Cup.
“Corey Smith will join fellow Australians Scott McDonald and Rhys Williams in representing the town on a national level and, although Futsal is developing in comparison to football in England, he is hoping to help do his part in the on-field success, while also creating a pathway over time for other aspiring young Futsal players at home in Australia.”
Smith will fly to Perth on the 12 of November for a state club tournament being held there.
“I’ll be playing with a mate from the Australian team and I have just returned a few weeks back from Brisbane, where I played in a ‘select’ tournament with several Australian boys and then trained with the Queensland men’s team as extra training, which actually included Igor Sao Jose, who used to play with Knights,” Smith said.