Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 12, 2026

Will Smallbone

William Anthony Patrick Smallbone is a professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder. Born in England, he plays for the Republic of Ireland national team. He is a free agent.

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Will Smallbone
Smallbone with the Republic of Ireland in 2025
Personal information
Full name William Anthony Patrick Smallbone1
Date of birth (2000-02-21) 21 February 20002
Place of birth Basingstoke, England3
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)4
Position Central midfielder
Youth career
2008–2019 Southampton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2026 Southampton 77 (7)
2022–2023 → Stoke City (loan) 43 (3)
2025–2026 → Millwall (loan) 10 (0)
International career‡
2017 Republic of Ireland U18 1 (0)
2018–2019 Republic of Ireland U19 5 (2)
2020–2022 Republic of Ireland U21 8 (3)
2023– Republic of Ireland 15 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 06:01, 3 May 2026 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 21:55, 14 October 2025 (UTC)

William Anthony Patrick Smallbone (born 21 February 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder. Born in England, he plays for the Republic of Ireland national team. He is a free agent.

Smallbone is a product of the Southampton academy and made his professional debut for the club in January 2020. He had loan spells with Stoke City and Millwall. Smallbone has represented the Republic of Ireland at youth and full international level.

Club career

Southampton

2017–2022

On 21 February 2017, Smallbone signed a professional contract with Southampton.5 He made his professional debut for Southampton in a 2–0 FA Cup victory over Huddersfield Town on 4 January 2020, scoring the opening goal.6 On 22 February 2020, Smallbone went on to make his Premier League debut in a 2–0 victory over Aston Villa.7

Having just started to appear regularly for the first team, on 16 January 2021, Smallbone suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in a 2–0 defeat at Leicester. As a result, he was expected to be out of action for up to six months.8 On 26 October 2021, Smallbone made his first professional appearance since his injury, replacing Stuart Armstrong in Southampton's defeat to Chelsea after a penalty shootout in the EFL Cup.9

2022–2025

On 23 July 2022, Smallbone joined Stoke City on a season-long loan.10 He scored his first goal for Stoke in a 2–0 win at Preston North End on 15 October 2022.11 Smallbone was a regular under Alex Neil in 2022–23, making 46 appearances, scoring three goals as Stoke finished in 16th position.12

On 28 August 2023, Smallbone signed a three-year contract extension with Southampton.13 He scored his first league goal for the club on 30 September 2023 in a 3–1 victory against Leeds United.14 On 17 May 2024, Smallbone scored the opening goal in a 3–1 victory against West Bromwich Albion in the second leg of the EFL Championship play-off semi-final, helping to secure his team's place in the final.15 Later that month, on 26 May, he provided an assist for Adam Armstrong in a 1–0 victory against Leeds United in the final, ensuring his club's promotion to the Premier League.1617

During a 3–2 home defeat against Leicester City on 19 October 2024, Smallbone made his return from an injury after he came off the bench, but manager Russell Martin feared he "tweaked" his hamstring during the game.18 Martin later revealed that Smallbone was expected to be sidelined for "a little bit of time" after he battled through the pain barrier to play against Leicester City.19 On 8 March 2025, he scored his first Premier League goal in a 3–1 defeat against Liverpool.2021

2025–2026

On 1 September 2025, Smallbone joined Millwall on a season-long loan.22 He made his first appearance for the club on 22 September in a 1–0 victory against Watford after he replaced Aidomo Emakhu in the 67th minute.23 After suffering a hamstring injury against Stoke City on 21 October, Smallbone was ruled out for several months.24 On 7 March 2026, he returned from injury in a 3–1 away victory against Hull City.25 At the end of March, Smallbone suffered another injury, and manager Alex Neil confirmed he was sidelined for a couple of weeks.26 Due to injuries, Smallbone made ten appearances for the club in all competitions.27 Smallbone was released from Southampton following the conclusion of the 2025–26 season.28

International career

Smallbone qualified to play for the Republic of Ireland through his Kilkenny-born mother.29 Smallbone made his debut for Republic of Ireland U21s against Italy U21s in October 2020.30 On 3 June 2022, he scored his first goals for the Republic of Ireland U21 team, scoring a brace in a 3–0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 at Tallaght Stadium.31 He followed that up by scoring a volley from outside the box three days later, to open the scoring in an eventual 3–1 win over Montenegro U21.3233

In November 2022, Smallbone was included in Stephen Kenny's senior squad for forthcoming friendlies. He made his debut on 22 March 2023 in a friendly match against Latvia, which ended in a 3–2 victory.34 He won Player of the Match award for his display against Latvia.35

Personal life

Smallbone was diagnosed with alopecia in 2021 whilst recovering from his ACL injury.3637 In December 2022, he became an ambassador for Alopecia UK.3839

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 2 May 2026
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup EFL Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Southampton U21 2016–1740 — — — 1a 0 1 0
2017–1841 — — — 1a 0 1 0
2018–1942 — — — 3a 0 3 0
2019–2043 — — — 1a 0 1 0
2021–2244 — — — 1a 0 1 0
Total — — — 7 0 7 0
Southampton 2019–2043 Premier League 9 0 1 1 0 0 — 10 1
2020–2145 Premier League 3 0 0 0 0 0 — 3 0
2021–2244 Premier League 4 0 2 0 1 0 — 7 0
2023–2446 Championship 43 6 4 0 0 0 3b 1 50 7
2024–2547 Premier League 18 1 2 0 0 0 — 20 1
2025–2627 Championship 0 0 — 0 0 — 0 0
Total 77 7 9 1 1 0 3 1 90 9
Stoke City (loan) 2022–2348 Championship 43 3 2 0 1 0 — 46 3
Millwall (loan) 2025–2627 Championship 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0
Career total 130 10 11 1 2 0 10 1 153 12
  1. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
  2. Appearances in Championship play-offs

International

As of match played 14 October 202549
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Republic of Ireland 2023 5 0
2024 6 0
2025 4 0
Total 15 0

Honours

Southampton

References

References

  1. "Premier League clubs publish 2019/20 retained lists". Premier League. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  2. "Will Smallbone". 11v11. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  3. "Shoot For The Stars: Southampton's FA Cup Wonderkid Will Smallbone". Shoot. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  4. "Player profiles: Will Smallbone". Southampton F.C. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  5. "Smallbone pens first professional deal". Southampton FC. 21 February 2017. Archived from the original on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  6. "Southampton 2 Huddersfield Town 0". BBC Sport. 4 January 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  7. Collins, Ben (22 February 2020). "Southampton 2–0 Aston Villa: Some of my team have played way out of EFL Cup final – Dean Smith". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  8. "Will Smallbone: Southampton midfielder faces up to six months out with ACL injury". BBC Sport. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  9. Rose, Gary (26 October 2021). "Chelsea 1–1 Southampton (4–3 pens)". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  10. Cope, Niall (23 July 2022). "Welcoming Will". Stoke City FC. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  11. "Preston North End 0–2 Stoke". BBC Sport. 15 October 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  12. "Stoke City loan star opens up about plans for next season". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  13. "Smallbone signs new three-year contract". Southampton FC. 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  14. "Southampton 3–1 Leeds United". BBC Sport. 30 September 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  15. George, Dan (17 May 2024). "Southampton 3–1 West Bromwich Albion". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  16. Fisher, Ben (26 May 2024). "Southampton promoted to Premier League by beating Leeds in playoff final". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  17. Gholam, Simeon (26 May 2024). "Leeds 0–1 Southampton: Adam Armstrong steers Saints back to Premier League". Sky Sports. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  18. Rees-Julian, George (20 October 2024). "Martin fears Smallbone 'tweaked' hamstring in defeat to Leicester". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  19. "Smallbone sidelined after playing through the pain barrier". Southampton FC. 24 October 2024. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  20. Begley, Emlyn (8 March 2025). "Liverpool 3–1 Southampton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  21. "Report: Saints undone by Reds revival". Southampton FC. 8 March 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  22. "Smallbone departs in Millwall loan deal". Southampton FC. 1 September 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  23. Peddy, Chris (22 September 2025). "Millwall 1–0 Watford". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  24. Rees-Julian, George (27 October 2025). "Southampton midfielder suffers injury on loan at Championship club". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 17 May 2026.
  25. "Hull City 1–3 Millwall". BBC Sport. 7 March 2026. Retrieved 17 May 2026.
  26. Harte, Declan (25 March 2026). "Millwall suffer player blow as Middlesbrough & Ipswich Town promotion race looms". Football League World. Retrieved 17 May 2026.
  27. "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2025/2026". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  28. "Men's retained list published for 2026". Southampton FC. 12 June 2026. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
  29. "Will Smallbone won't be tempted by England switch". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  30. "Italy U21 2–0 Republic of Ireland U21". BBC Sport. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  31. O'Connor, Seán (3 June 2022). "Smallbone and Odubeko inspire Ireland U21s to victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  32. Diallo, Raf (6 June 2022). "Ireland see off Montenegro to boost Euro U-21 dreams". www.rte.ie.
  33. "Smallbone continues scoring streak in Ireland win". Southampton FC. 6 June 2022.
  34. Leahy, Ed (22 March 2023). "Chiedozie Ogbene secures hard-fought Ireland win against Latvia as Evan Ferguson opens his account". RTE.ie. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  35. O'Hehir, Paul (22 March 2023). "Stephen Kenny full of praise for Will Smallbone after Ireland debut". Irishmirror.ie. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  36. "Injury and alopecia: Smallbone's story". Southampton FC. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  37. "Will Smallbone opens up on alopecia and injury challenges". RTE. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  38. "Will Smallbone chats to Alopecia UK". Alopecia UK. 6 December 2022. Archived from the original on 29 February 2024. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  39. House, Alfie (8 December 2022). "Inspiring Southampton midfielder opens up on Alopecia to help others". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  40. "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  41. "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  42. "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  43. "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  44. "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  45. "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  46. "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  47. "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  48. "Games played by Will Smallbone in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  49. "Smallbone, Will". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  50. "Leeds United 0–1 Southampton: Line-ups". BBC Sport. 26 May 2024. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
External links