Shane Smeltz

Football player infobox
playername = Shane Smeltz
fullname = Shane Edward Smeltz


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1981|9|29
cityofbirth = Göppingen
countryofbirth = Germany
height = height|m=1.85
position = Striker
currentclub = Wellington Phoenix
clubnumber = 9
contractend = 2009
youthyears =
youthclubs = QAS
years = 1998
1999–2001
2002
2002–2003
2003–2004
2005
2005–2006
2006–2007
2007–
clubs = Gold Coast City
Brisbane Strikers
Napier City Rovers
Adelaide City
Adelaide United
Mansfield Town
AFC Wimbledon
Halifax Town
Wellington Phoenix
caps(goals) =
25 (0)
23 (15)
07 0(1)
05 0(0)
50 (26)
31 0(2)
25 (15)
nationalyears =
2003-present
nationalteam = New Zealand U-20
New Zealand U-23
New Zealand
nationalcaps(goals) =
21 0(11)
pcupdate = 1 October 2008
ntupdate = 11 September 2008

Shane Smeltz (born in Göppingen, Germany on 29 September 1981) is a New Zealand football player. He plays as a striker for A-League team Wellington Phoenix.cite web|url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Players/S/SI.html|title=Australian Player Database|author=|publisher=OzFootball|date=|accessdate=2008-09-03]

Club career

Before signing for English side Halifax Town, Shane Smeltz played in 61 competitive matches for AFC Wimbledon, including 11 as a substitute, and scored 26 goals. Smeltz played for a variety of professional Australian clubs before trying his luck in England with Mansfield Town in 2005.

Smeltz returned to New Zealand in 2007 signing a two-year deal with the Wellington Phoenix, where he finished second in the Golden Boot race with nine goals from 19 appearances. In the 2008-09 season, Smeltz has scored six of his team's seven goals this season, and is currently tied in the Golden Boot lead with Melbourne's Danny Allsopp

International career

Smeltz has played for the under 20, 23 and full New Zealand national team.cite web|url=http://www.ultimatenzsoccer.com/NZRepSoccer/id1708.htm|title=A-International Appearances - Overall|author=|publisher=The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website|date=|accessdate=2008-07-25] In May 2007, he was the scorer of both New Zealand's goals in an impressive 2-2 draw against Wales.

He also became the first AFC Wimbledon player to win international honours, and the first to became an international goalscorer (on April 25 2006), when he netted in an away friendly against Chile.

Following his impressive goal scoring form with the Phoenix in the A-League as well as consistent performances for the All Whites, Smeltz was voted New Zealand footballer of the year on 19th November 2007, ahead of English premier league star Ryan Nelsen and Celtic FC striker Chris Killen.Fact|date=September 2008

A-League Career Statistics

("Correct as of 6 October 2008")

Honours

Personal Honours:
* NZF Men’s Player of the Year: 2007
* Wellington Phoenix Player of the Year: 2007-2008
* Wellington Phoenix Player's Player of the Year: 2007-2008
* Wellington Phoenix Media Player of the Year: 2007-2008

References

External links

*
* [http://www.wellingtonphoenix.com/default.aspx?s=wellfc_playerprofile_item&pid=1471 Wellington Phoenix profile]
* [http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Players/S/SI.html Oz Football profile]
* [http://www.nzsoccer.com/page/shane_smeltz.html NZF - All White profile]
*soccerbase|id=35109|name=Shane Smeltz