Manchester United stars often have emphatic moments in their career that can define and summarise their stay at Old Trafford.
For all-time legends - such as Eric Cantona, Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes - their Reds careers cannot simply be narrowed down to one moment. But for others, an instance of brilliance can encapsulate their stint.
The 2013 title-winning goal against Aston Villa for Robin van Persie, Mark Robins’ 1990 FA Cup goal that ‘saved’ Sir Alex Ferguson’s job, Michael Owen’s 2011 Manchester derby stoppage time winner. Unfortunately, the first thing people remember about Alan Smith’s United stint was that horror injury.
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Ferguson described it as one of the worst he’d ever seen and the impact was so severe, it still affects Smith almost 17 years on. Smith’s courageous block of a John Arne Riise free-kick in February 2006 would change his career.
The 74th-minute substitute was left with a broken leg and dislocated ankle, and teammates instantly knew from the angle of his limb that it was serious. Edwin van der Sar furiously called on the medical staff and Cristiano Ronaldo turned away grimacing.
Noting that the situation was above any rivalry, Liverpool’s doctors came on to assist, as Riise came over to apologise and check on Smith, who left the field on a stretcher to an ovation from all four stands and with an oxygen mask over his mouth.
Rumours circulated at the time that some Liverpool fans had attacked the ambulance that Smith was taken to hospital in but that is a myth he dispelled in a 2015 interview with Four Four Two.
“It didn’t happen - fans were still in the ground," Smith said. "I went back to Liverpool a few years later with Newcastle and had a great reception. I had loads of mail from fans after the injury, including a lot from Liverpool. And Liverpool’s medical staff were great."
An operation the next day determined he’d be out for nine months but the effects have lasted much longer. At the time, Ferguson was trying to nurture the striker into a central midfielder to fill the boots of an injured Roy Keane.
"Roy sees characteristics in Alan that he saw in himself as a young player, which could help Alan develop into a very good player in that position," the United boss explained.
Smith had arrived at Old Trafford from Leeds in a £7m deal in 2004 but after scoring 10 in 42 appearances in his first season, his manager tried a new tack the following campaign.
The 2005/06 season was to be Keane’s last at United, the crunch point coming in his controversial criticism of some of his teammates in October’s 4-1 loss to Middlesbrough. A number of colleagues were subject to his unfiltered wrath, including Rio Ferdinand, Darren Fletcher and Edwin van der Sar.
Smith didn’t escape either. "What is he doing there? He [Smith] is wandering around as if he is lost. He doesn't know what he is doing," Keane fumed.
Perhaps Keane's judgement of Smith had changed by then but it would be he who exited Old Trafford first in an unamicable departure to Celtic before his retirement. In later years, Yorkshire-born attacker Smith explained that his task wasn’t to oust Keane but instead to adapt into a similar mould of player.
“Roy Keane is probably impossible to replace as a player and as a character, especially at Manchester United,” he told the UTD podcast in 2020. “No-one could ever replicate it, so it was [about me] trying to do as good a job in a similar position.
“It wasn’t like, ‘you’re going to be a Roy Keane’. I could never do that job. It was a case of trying to learn and trying to understand the position that you’re playing in and do it to the best of your ability as a replacement for one of the best midfield players there has ever been.”
He added: "It was a difficult task, it was one I would never be able to do it to that same level. I wouldn’t have had to do it as much as I did if Roy would have been as fit as normal.
“It would probably have been a longer process, rather than being thrown in through necessity. Ability-wise, I was probably put in there because I could tackle and I was brave enough to do it and physical enough to try and do it, not because my actual ability warranted going into that position.
“I had a great relationship with Roy and it was sad how he ended because he went to Celtic and I couldn’t learn anymore.” As for the injury picked up four months after the Middlesbrough defeat, Smith is reminded of that afternoon every day.
The effects still linger more than a decade after the incident. However, it’s easy to forget what has happened in the interim.
After failing to evolve into the United-standard midfielder Sir Alex had hoped due to his mammoth setback, the United manager announced Smith would transition back into a forward. However, the impact of his injury showed after scoring just once in 18 matches before a £6m switch to Newcastle.
Smith played 94 times for the Magpies before dropping down the leagues to MK Dons and Notts County, where he retired. He hung up his boots in 2018 after 602 career club appearances and 70 goals, ending with 19 England caps - three of which came post-injury - and an international goal.
Speaking to the Mirror in 2018, he described how walking away from the game would have “been the easy option” although realised in later years that the benefits of professional football were waning.
In fact, Smith still suffers from ankle trouble, and has difficulty getting out of bed. He admitted that he knew his career was on the line following his setback at Anfield 16 years ago.
“I knew with the injury it would be touch and go whether I could carry on playing – the surgeon said that,” he said. “It would have been easier to walk away and people remember you as a top Premier League player.
"But I didn’t want that, because I loved playing football. Your love of it makes you go through the pain barrier. Most of people I have played with, and managers, have respected me for staying in football when it would have been easy to walk away.
"But I dropped down to the Championship, dropped down to League One and dropped down to League Two. Loads of people would say to me, ‘Why I am bothering?’ Whether I was earning £500-a-week or nothing, if people felt I could still contribute I wanted to keep playing.”
Smith used the lessons he learnt during his long recovery to take a positive spin on the rest of his playing days, before doctors effectively brought his career to an end. He added: “The injury made me a better person after doing so well so young.
“I learnt at any time, football can be over. I am lucky through sheer grit and determination I carried on playing. The good people I met lower down the leagues probably drove me on to stay in football longer.
“But by the end, the day-to-day training was doing more harm than good. I couldn’t compete at a level I felt I could easily before. I get out of bed and can’t walk properly, my ankle is stiff all the time.
“I went for a run in the summer and managed to do a couple of miles but stopped and started walking because my ankle was hurting. I went back last month and the surgeon said, 'I don’t want you doing any straight-line running', just because it will damage the joint.
“It is always difficult to walk away but when you see someone and they don’t want you running, you know it is the right decision. I have no regrets, for me I see retiring early being the easy option.”
In recent years, Smith moved to Florida in the US and coached youngsters at the XL World Soccer Academy.
The now 42-year-old is most remembered for that fateful day in 2006 but perhaps he should be viewed as a mental warrior who has sacrificed his long-term welfare for the love of the game.
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