WellRed meets: Korey Smith

You spent the early part of your career at Norwich City. What do you remember of your time there?

It was a big part of my life obviously and they were the first professional club that I played for. It was a whole new world for me, entering that professional environment at 15 or 16-years old and moving away from my family.

But it’s a lovely place where I enjoyed living and I had some great years after breaking into the first team. We won promotions and I have nothing but good memories of my time there.

I met my partner Hatti there as well and I still have friends there so it will always be a huge part of my life.

How did Norwich City spot you?

I come from a place called Hatfield where I was coached in primary school by a man called Laird. One day, we were about 15, my friend DJ knocked for me and we rode up to the university which had 3G pitches. So we’d climb over the fences and sneak in to try and play football up there.

One time we were up there, we were seen by Laird and he told us about the development centre which was looking to recruit young footballers from the London area. They were looking for people within a two-hour radius to try and get trials for Norwich City. He said to both of us to go down that week for a training session, so we did.

I must have done well in that session because he came over and said to me he was going to get me a trial at Norwich City. I was phoned later that evening and he told me I would be playing against West Ham that Saturday.

I played in a five-game trial over six weeks and within six months I was moving to Norwich! To be honest, it all came out of nowhere. I was doing my GCSEs at the time and I moved as soon as I left school. It was a crazy time.

I was so lucky that my friend came and called for me that day for a kick about!