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Joshua Smits

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Joshua Smits
Personal information
Full name Joshua Gerardus Petrus Wilhelmus Smits[1]
Date of birth (1992-11-06) 6 November 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth Nijmegen, Netherlands
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 De Graafschap
Number 16
Youth career
1998–2003 Astrantia
2003–2011 De Treffers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2018 NEC 41 (0)
2013 → FC Oss (loan) 0 (0)
2018–2020 Almere City 29 (0)
2020–2022 Bodø/Glimt 11 (0)
2022–2024 Willem II 49 (0)
2024– De Graafschap 10 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:09, 2 November 2024 (UTC)

Joshua Gerardus Petrus Wilhelmus Smits (born 6 November 1992) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Eerste Divisie club De Graafschap.

Smits started his football career at Astrantia and De Treffers, before moving to NEC in 2011. In the 2014–15 season, he made his debut in professional football for NEC, a club with which he reached promotion to the Eredivisie. After a two-year stint with Almere City, he joined Norwegian club Bodø/Glimt, winning the league title in his first season at the club.

Career

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Early career

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Smits started in the youth department of Astrantia SV in Middelaar as a five-year-old, first as an outfielder and from the age of 10 as a goalkeeper.[2] He had already received goalkeeping practice at De Treffers, before he made the definitive move to the club's youth department at age 11. In the 2010–11 season, he played for the U17 team and was also the third goalkeeper for the first team. Due to an accident by the starting goalkeeper of De Treffers, Smits was on the bench in the Topklasse for a few matches.

NEC

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In the summer of 2011, Smits was signed by NEC and was added to the first team as the third goalkeeper in September of that year after the departure of Jasper Cillessen.[3] He initially played for the reserve team of Jong NEC/FC Oss. In April 2012, he sat on the bench of FC Oss for the home game against MVV behind Vincent van Trier. In January 2013, NEC signed Kalle Johnsson actively demoting Smits to fourth goalkeeper on the depth chart. He finished the season on loan at cooperation club FC Oss, where starter Luuk Koopmans had become injured. Smits, however, did not play and was reserve behind Richard Arends. He made his professional debut on 10 August 2014 against FC Eindhoven, in which NEC booked a 3–1 win. He was the starting goalkeeper of NEC in the 2014–15 season and was part of the team winning the league title.[4] Three games before the end of the competition, it turned out that Smits had suffered a broken wrist and walked around with it for a long time.[5] Smits had to miss the entire season after the club's comeback to the Eredivisie. In the 2016–17 season, Smits was fit again, but was kept out of the starting lineup by starter Joris Delle. On 28 May 2017, he was relegated with NEC back to the Eerste Divisie. That season, Smits became the starter again and he was in the pecking order above Delle.[6] He started the first league match against Almere City, which NEC won 3–1.

Almere City

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On 24 January 2018, Smits signed a contract for a season and a half with Almere City.[7] He had an injury-riddled start with his new club, as he broke his arm in February 2018 and suffered a serious knee injury in August 2018.[8] After Almere City had extended his contract for one year, Smits was finally able to make his debut for the club at the start of the 2019–20 season. He became the starting goalkeeper and in October 2019 his contract was extended until mid-2021.[9]

Bodø/Glimt

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On 12 June 2020, Smits signed a four-year contract with Norwegian club Bodø/Glimt playing in the top-tier Eliteserien.[2] Smits quickly obtained the starting job, but did not return as a starter after another injury. In November 2020, Smits won the Eliteserien title with Bodø/Glimt; it was the club's first league title.[10]

Willem II

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On 25 June 2022, Smits signed a three-year contract with Willem II.[11]

De Graafschap

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On 23 August 2024, Smits moved to De Graafschap.[12]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 1 November 2024[13]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
NEC 2014–15 Eerste Divisie 35 0 3 0 — — 38 0
2015–16 Eredivisie 0 0 0 0 — — 0 0
2016–17 Eredivisie 0 0 0 0 — — 0 0
2017–18 Eerste Divisie 6 0 1 0 — — 7 0
Total 41 0 4 0 — — 45 0
Almere City 2017–18 Eerste Divisie 0 0 0 0 — — 0 0
2018–19 Eerste Divisie 0 0 0 0 — — 0 0
2019–20 Eerste Divisie 29 0 0 0 — — 29 0
Total 29 0 0 0 — — 29 0
Bodø/Glimt 2020 Eliteserien 10 0 0 0 — — 10 0
2021 Eliteserien 1 0 2 0 — — 3 0
2022 Eliteserien 0 0 1 0 1[a] 0 — 2 0
Total 11 0 3 0 1 0 — 15 0
Willem II 2022–23 Eerste Divisie 11 0 1 0 — 2[b] 0 14 0
2023–24 Eerste Divisie 38 0 0 0 — — 38 0
Total 49 0 1 0 — 2 0 52 0
De Graafschap 2024–25 Eerste Divisie 10 0 0 0 — — 10 0
Career total 140 0 8 0 1 0 2 0 151 0
  1. ^ Appearance in the UEFA Europa Conference League
  2. ^ Appearances in the Eerste Divisie promotion play-offs

Honours

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NEC

Bodø/Glimt

References

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  1. ^ "Joshua Gerardus Petrus Wilhelmus Smits". fotball.no. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Joshua Smits klar for Bodø/Glimt". FK Bodø/Glimt (in Norwegian). 12 June 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Joshua Smits tekent een tweejarig contract bij N.E.C." NEC Nijmegen (in Dutch). 12 April 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  4. ^ van Duren, Iwan (8 April 2015). "Joshua Smits: 'Dit is pas het begin'". Voetbal International (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  5. ^ "Joshua Smits keepte tijdenlang met polsbreuk". Omroep Gelderland (in Dutch). 23 April 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  6. ^ "Keeperswissel bij NEC lijkt aanstaande: Delle voor Smits". Omroep Gelderland (in Dutch). 28 September 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Smits verruilt N.E.C. voor Almere City FC". NEC Nijmegen (in Dutch). 24 January 2018. Archived from the original on 25 January 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  8. ^ Van Gruijthuijsen, Jasper (16 August 2018). "Pechvogel Smits voor de derde keer in één jaar tijd zwaar geblesseerd". De Gelderlander (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Joshua Smits verlengt contract tot 2021". Almere City FC (in Dutch). 23 October 2019. Archived from the original on 4 January 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Oud-Almere-keeper Smits beleeft Noors voetbalsprookje boven de poolcirkel". NOS (in Dutch). 23 November 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  11. ^ "Joshua Smits tekent voor drie jaar" (in Dutch). Willem II. 25 June 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  12. ^ "De Graafschap versterkt zich met doelman Joshua Smits" [De Graafschap strengthens itself with goalkeeper Joshua Smits] (in Dutch). De Graafschap. 23 August 2024. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  13. ^ Joshua Smits at Soccerway
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