Will Smallbone
Personal information
Full name William Anthony Patrick Smallbone[1]
Date of birth (2000-02-21) 21 February 2000[2]
Place of birth Basingstoke, England[3]
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[4]
Position(s) Central midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Southampton
Number 16
Youth career
2008–2019 Southampton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019– Southampton 39 (3)
2022–2023 → Stoke City (loan) 43 (3)
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)
2023– Republic of Ireland 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:13, 1 January 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:56, 13 October 2023 (UTC)

William Anthony Patrick Smallbone (born 21 February 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for EFL Championship club Southampton and the Republic of Ireland national team.

Club career

Southampton

2017–22

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]

2022–23: Loan to Stoke City

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] Smallbone was a regular under Alex Neil in 2022–23, making 46 appearances, scoring three goals as Stoke finished in 16th position.[12]

2023–present

On 28 August 2023, Smallbone signed a three-year contract extension with Southampton.[13] He scored his first league goal for the club on 30 September 2023 in a 3–1 victory against Leeds United.[14]

International career

Smallbone qualified to play for the Republic of Ireland through his Kilkenny-born mother.[15] Smallbone made his debut for Republic of Ireland U21s against Italy U21s in October 2020.[16] 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.[17] 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.[18][19]

In November 2022, Smallbone was included in Stephen Kenny's senior squad for forthcoming friendlies. He made his debut on 22 March 2023 in a friendly match against Latvia, which ended in a 3–2 victory.[20] He won Player of the match award for his display against Latvia.[21]

Personal life

Smallbone was diagnosed with alopecia in 2021 whilst recovering from his ACL injury.[22][23]

Career statistics

As of match played 6 January 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup EFL Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Southampton U21 2016–17[24] ———1[lower-alpha 1]010
2017–18[25] ———1[lower-alpha 1]010
2018–19[26] ———3[lower-alpha 1]030
2019–20[27] ———1[lower-alpha 1]010
2021–22[28] ———1[lower-alpha 1]010
Total ———7070
Southampton 2019–20[27] Premier League 901100—101
2020–21[29] Premier League 300000—30
2021–22[28] Premier League 402010—70
2023–24[30] Championship 2331000—243
Total 3934110—444
Stoke City (loan) 2022–23[31] Championship 4332010—463
Career total 826612070977
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

International

As of match played 13 October 2023[32]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Republic of Ireland 202350
Total50

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.
  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. ↑ "Stoke City loan star opens up about plans for next season". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  13. ↑ "Smallbone signs new three-year contract". Southampton FC. 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  14. ↑ "Southampton 3–1 Leeds United". BBC Sport. 30 September 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  15. ↑ "Will Smallbone won't be tempted by England switch". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  16. ↑ "Italy U21 2–0 Republic of Ireland U21". BBC Sport. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  17. ↑ "Smallbone and Odubeko inspire Ireland U21s to victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina". independent.
  18. ↑ Diallo, Raf (6 June 2022). "Ireland see off Montenegro to boost Euro U-21 dreams". www.rte.ie.
  19. ↑ "Smallbone continues scoring streak in Ireland win". Southampton FC. 6 June 2022.
  20. ↑ Leahy, Ed (22 March 2023). "Chiedozie Ogbene secures hard-fought Ireland win against Latvia as Evan Ferguson opens his account". RTE.ie. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  21. ↑ O'Hehir, Paul (22 March 2023). "Stephen Kenny full of praise for Will Smallbone after Ireland debut". Irishmirror.ie. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  22. ↑ "Injury and alopecia: Smallbone's story". Southampton FC. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  23. ↑ "Will Smallbone opens up on alopecia and injury challenges". RTE. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  24. ↑ "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  25. ↑ "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  26. ↑ "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  27. 1 2 "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  28. 1 2 "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  29. ↑ "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  30. ↑ "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  31. ↑ "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  32. ↑ "Smallbone, Will". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
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