On 26 March 1987, Arsenal signed Alan Smith from Leicester for £750,000.

  • Smith was voted 27th best player of all time at Arsenal
  • He made a total of 347 appearances and scored 115 goals for Arsenal
  • Smith jelped Arsenal win two league titles, the FA Cup and League Cup

After he signed from the Foxes in 1987, Smith was immediately loaned back to his former team for the remainder of the season. Since this was the first time a move of this type had been arranged, the legality of the situation was questioned. However, this is now pretty common practice in modern football and even at the time the League agreed that there was nothing wrong with what Arsenal had done.

During his time with the Gunners, Smith won two League Championships, the FA Cup, the Football League Cup and in Europe the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. He also scored the first goal in Arsenal’s famous win over Liverpool to clinch the title in 1989. However, he was only capped 13 times for England.

After his playing career came to an end in 1995, Smith turned to the media side of the sport. To this day, he’s a commentator and pundit.

Sources: Wiki, Arsenal.com, Woolwich Arsenal.