 Smith signed for Stoke City in September 1966 after telling manager Tony Waddington that he was going to sign a contract at another club ; though Waddington was not keen on Smith 's hard @-@ tackling style , he did not want to lose the young player . At the age of 18 he faced Leeds United 's FWA Footballer of the Year Bobby Collins in a reserve game , and despite Collins going as far as to punch him in the face Smith managed to last the entire match without backing down in an extremely physical contest . However , for a period Waddington banned Smith from playing against first team players in training as he feared Smith would injure one of his players . He made his first team debut in the Football League against Arsenal in September 1968 , and was given the task of man @-@ marking Bobby Gould . He gave away a penalty after fouling Jon <unk> , which Terry Neill converted for the only goal of the game , but otherwise made a solid debut . However , in his second game he gave away two penalties in a 3 – 1 defeat away to Ipswich Town , and had to wait five months for another first team appearance . In March 1969 , Alan Bloor picked up a knock and Smith returned to the starting line @-@ up in a 5 – 1 defeat to Leeds , failing in his task to man mark Mick Jones , who claimed a hat @-@ trick . Despite the poor start to his senior career , he managed to finish the 1968 – 69 season with 14 First Division appearances to his name , and was occasionally used as an emergency striker . 
