Arsenal loan goalkeeper Tom Smith has had to wait for his chance at Colchester United, but he’s had the perfect start with the team this week.

Tom Smith makes a save for Colchester United (Photo via Colchester United on Twitter)
Tom Smith makes a save for Colchester United (Photo via Colchester United on Twitter)

21-year-old goalkeeper Tom Smith started the season with Bromley FC, making 13 appearances in the first half of the campaign.

But after dropping out of Bromley’s starting lineup just as the January transfer window rolled around, Arsenal acted quickly to recall him and reloan him to League Two side Colchester United.

This also presented Smith with his first opportunity to play in the English Football League, with all of his previous loan spells taking place in non-league football.

Yet perhaps unsurprisingly, Smith didn’t immediately break into the Colchester team.

After all, he was stepping up to a level he’d never played at before, in the middle of the season. Goalkeepers tend to struggle to break into new teams at the best of times.

Following over two months of sitting on the bench, Smith’s big break finally came when first-choice goalkeeper Kieran O’Hara had to pull out of Colchester’s match against Crewe Alexandra at the last minute.

Colchester had already named O’Hara in their lineup, but his last-minute withdrawal gave Smith his debut.

The Arsenal man couldn’t have hoped for a better first game, with Colchester thrashing Crewe 4-0.

Five days later, with O’Hara back available, Smith kept his place against Salford City, and he kept another clean sheet in a 1-0 win.

Tom Smith after a clean sheet on his debut for Bromley (Photo via Bromley FC on Twitter)
Tom Smith after a clean sheet on his debut for Bromley earlier in the season (Photo via Bromley FC on Twitter)

Those two wins were Colchester United’s first victories since February 11th, and they’ve dragged the side six points clear of the relegation zone with four games remaining.

There’s no reason why Smith can’t now keep his place for the rest of the run-in. If he helps Colchester to hold onto their football league status, it will be a job well done.