Chris Smalling has 31 England caps, and his 36-year career path has taken him from non-league Maidstone to a Champions League final in just three years. Over 580 club appearances across three countries, and spells under Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho, have brought trophies with Manchester United and Roma, but the former England defender is now back in the north west of England with his family to work out what comes next.
Smalling still has plans for life after football, but for now he is concentrating on finding a new club. After last season, when he was ever-present for Al-Fayha in the Saudi Pro-League, he says he knows his body better now than when he was 26 and that experience is reflected in how he prepares and performs.
“I know my body now better than when I was 26 and that's shown in the games I'm playing,” he said.
“When I was younger, I remember Sir Alex was implementing certain things, like Ryan Giggs doing yoga.
“When you get beyond 30, each year is precious in terms of enjoying playing and being passionate about football.
“Actual training is a very short time. The longevity and recovery starts very early in terms of what I'm eating and doing between sessions, even down to my supplements now.
“In pre-season we have blood tests and the clubs make recommendations. I went one step further and kind of had genetics testing, which goes deep into everything. A lot of my supplements were changed because of that.”
His interest in recovery and longevity is part of why he remains so proud of playing every game for Al-Fayha last season. Yet if that career milestone sounds like the product of a long-planned route, Smalling says the reality was very different.
Wind back 18 years and he did not expect to get anywhere close to this level. “It wasn't even plan D,” he recalled.
“I was playing at Maidstone, but I was going to university to study financial economics.
“I had everything set out. I already had my A levels, and I was looking at other non-league clubs near Leicester because I still wanted to play.
“It was very late in the summer when the opportunity came around. I knew it was a slim chance even to be offered but I needed to do everything I could.”
The offer came from Fulham. Roy Hodgson watched one practice game, called Smalling into his office and offered him a contract.
“It wasn't even a full week,” said Smalling. “I didn't have any time to get my head around it. I was just in total shock.”
It would not be the last time Hodgson put him in a position where he had no time to think.
Smalling was part of the Fulham squad travelling to Blackburn for a Premier League game on 17 January, 2010, although the then 20-year-old did not feature in the 2-0 defeat. For him, the more important moment happened the night before.
“There had been a lot of talk about other clubs but not Manchester United,” he said.
“Roy pulled me off the coach, said Fulham had accepted a bid and Sir Alex was coming to the hotel in 45 minutes. I called my mum first but then I was sitting in the room thinking it was going to be a bit awkward and what questions could I can ask him?
“Literally, we were there for about at least a couple of hours. He was so calming and reassuring.
“Even I was doubting it because they had all these great centre-backs. I wanted to develop and wondered 'how do I fit in?'.
“He told me I would get a chance and he believed in me.
“To be able to share the dressing room and the pitch and have conversations with him, is just incredible.”
The experience of being backed personally by Ferguson is something Smalling sees as central to what made the great managers special. That is also why he feels his relationship with Mourinho has often been misunderstood.
To outsiders, their bond is often defined by Mourinho’s public criticism in November 2016 over Smalling’s unwillingness to play through an injury. Smalling says that does not capture what their working relationship was really like.
“For United or Roma, Jose picked me for most games because we had a good relationship and he trusted me.
“It's very easy to influence younger players but the beauty of Sir Alex and Jose is that they were able to create that belief in senior players. A lot of managers can give good team talks but if you look at some eye-to-eye, see the passion and real belief that 'it's going to happen' senior players follow and the rest lock in. That's the beauty of top-class manager.
“In that situation, I was having injections in broken toe because he had created that mentality in me that I could do anything, even if, maybe, I shouldn't. I had reached the limit of the amount [of injections] I could have, had to stop in a warm-up and he was disappointed.
“It gave me even more belief because it was easy to choose another centre-back but he wanted me.”
More than a player
Smalling is still in contact with Mourinho and wished him luck when he took over at Real Madrid this summer. He does not, however, plan to move into coaching once he finishes playing.
“I don't think it will be my route,” he said. “I'm quite comfortable with the next stage.
“I'm working on an education programme for young players partnering with the Global Institute of Sport that's going to be coming out shortly. I've got three or four of these types of projects.
“Once my football career comes to an end, I can put more time to them but at the minute it's all focused on playing because I have that passion and drive and physically my stats are good.”
Any club that signs Smalling would be getting more than a defender. At Al-Fayha, he had a positive influence on developments away from the pitch, including making sure the gym met the standards expected by an elite modern-day player.
He says he is proud that he is remembered fondly at all his previous clubs and that he made a positive impact both on and off the pitch.
Looking back, he believes turning down university was the right choice, even if it was the safer route at the time.
“It would have been the safer route,” he said.
“In that first year, I was not earning a lot of money. I was playing for the reserves and the 19th man for the first team, travelling around but not quite on the bench. There was no guarantee I was going to earn more money.
“When I signed for United, it was a four-year contract. At the end of the first year, I signed a new one, another a year later and another 18 months after that.
“There was always this carrot. I never took anything for granted.”
He had already qualified for university and planned to study financial economics, but the chance to stay in football changed his path. From Maidstone to Fulham, Manchester United, Roma and Al-Fayha, Smalling’s career has been shaped by opportunities he says he could never have predicted, and he now returns to the north west of England to decide where the next one will come from.
Key Facts
- Chris Smalling has won 31 England caps.
- He has made 580 club appearances in three countries.
- He played most of his career under Sir Alex Ferguson or Jose Mourinho.
- He was an ever-present for Al-Fayha in the Saudi Pro-League last season.
- He is now back in the north west of England with his family while searching for a new club.
Chris Smalling and Sir Alex Ferguson celebrate Manchester United's 2012-13 Premier League title victory
Chris Smalling and Jose Mourinho celebrate Roma's semi-final victory against Leicester on the way to winning the UEFA Conference League in 2022
