No team can consist of silky ball players alone. There’s no doubt that players like Carranza, Caballero, Nemsadze and Caniggia, to name but 4 are the ones who have excited and gave us our football fix and entertainment value over the past few seasons.
But somewhere in the mixture there has to be players more known for their commitment and guts, who run through brick walls for their team every week, who keep on fighting when others fall apart at the seams.
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Barry Smith is one such player. After 5 seasons with Celtic, where he was capped at Under-21 level, the Paisly lad joined Dundee on the 8th August, 1995, aged 21. Has been the team Captain for several years now.
Standing at 5'10" in his socks he's not the tallest of defenders around, but few are more committed and dedicated to the game he loves.
Since 1997 he has played 220 times for the dark blues. According to Footy-Mad statisticians he's been on the losing side 87 times, and scoring only once in that period. Was an ever present last season.
An inspirational player, Barry never fails to give his all for the cause, and has been used in every defensive position barring Goalkeeper. Few can deny he's been a great professional during his nearly 8 year stint at Dens Park.
The arrival of Jim Duffy this season allowed Dundee fans to see another side of Barry Smith. Playing as a deep lying midfielder he has turned on some amazing performances and has done a good spoiling job and man marking role that played a big part in several of Dundee’s victories this season.
Sometimes his passing game lets him down, but playing amidst some very talented ball players his Scottish style and passion for the cause has proved inspirational, and kept his side in a game when all looked bleak.
Barry has never been short of critics among the dark blue faithful. Some blame him for not having the skills of his more illustrious team mates, without giving him credit for the skills he does possess, hard tackling, good reading of the game and "bottle" of a kind some of the more talented skill men can only dream about.
Born on the 19th February, 1974, Barry has now turned 29. There's still plenty of time on his side to skipper Dundee to better things over the next few seasons. None more than he deserves some taste of success in the game.