Date / Year of birth: 30th June 1985

Position: Centre-back / Right-back

Season of first appearance: 2006/07

Season of last appearance: 2009/10

Also played for: Ramsgate, Sittingbourne, Whitstable Town and Deal Town

Locally-born defender who attended Monkton Primary School. Louis started his senior career at Ramsgate where he played in the Under-18's during the 2002/03 season as well as making a few first team appearances aged 17.

In October 2003 he moved on to Sittingbourne and Louis later had a spell at Whitstable where he helped the reserves to win the Kent League Division 2 title during 2004/05.

He spent the 2005/06 campaign with Kent League club Deal and in the summer of 2006 Louis signed for Margate.

He featured in most of Margate's pre-season friendlies and a few days before the start of the 2006/07 campaign player-manager Robin Trott spoke to the Isle of Thanet Gazette about Louis saying he was "Very confident for his age, not overawed by the occasion, as a lot of players could be. Has nice body posture for football, a nice right foot and he reads the game well."

Louis made his first team debut at right-back in a 2-0 defeat at Ramsgate in the Isthmian League Cup on 12.9.06 and then made one more start in Margate's next three matches. He was back in the number two shirt for a 0-0 draw with Bromley in an Isthmian League Premier Division game at Hartsdown Park on 26.9.06 and Robin Trott told the Isle of Thanet Gazette "Louis Smith was excellent - he's an excellent player actually." It was the start of a run where Louis made three starts at right-back from four matches but after a 2-1 home defeat against Potters Bar in the FA Cup on 14.10.06 he only featured once as a substitute in Margate's next four games.

Louis returned to the starting line-up for a Kent Senior Cup tie at VCD on 8.11.06 and wore the number five shirt for the first time as a youthful Margate side lost 1-0. The Isle of Thanet Gazette said he "impressed at centre-half" and Louis then started the next five matches, always playing as a right-back. After a 2-0 win over Hampton & Richmond at Hartsdown Park on 11.11.06 Robin Trott told the Thanet Times "He is a centre-half and that will definitely be his role at the club in years to come. He just needs to put on a bit more weight and work on his leadership." The last game of Louis' extended run in the side was a 4-2 home defeat against Staines on 28.11.06 and the Thanet Times said he made a "brilliant goalline clearance" during the match.

It was over two months before Louis featured in the first team again and after he'd come on as a substitute in a 4-4 draw at Harrow on 3.2.07 he sat out another two games before playing at left-back in a 2-1 defeat against visitors Tonbridge on 20.2.07. Louis also wore the number three shirt in Margate's next two matches but after a 2-0 home defeat against Boreham Wood on 10.3.07 he found himself on the bench for three games, coming on in each of them.

Louis was back in the side at left-back for a 1-1 draw with Horsham at Hartsdown Park on 27.3.07 but then only featured once as a sub in the next three matches before donning the number five shirt for a home game against Ramsgate on 9.4.07. The Isle of Thanet Gazette said he "held his nerve well" as Margate won 1-0 and Louis kept him place in the heart of the defence for the next three matches which were the last games of the 2006/07 campaign. He finished the season having made 26 appearances (seven as sub) without scoring and in May 2007 Louis was given a two-year contract.

On the eve of the 2007/08 campaign Robin Trott spoke to the Isle of Thanet Gazette about Louis and said "He needs to be a bit stronger, as a few of the players do, but he's a good player and one for the future." Trott added "Shame about his hair-cut."

Louis didn't feature in Margate's first two games of the new season but on 25.8.07 he wore the number five shirt in a 4-2 win over Wealdstone at Northwood in the Isthmian League Premier Division. He was a regular in the side for the next five months and having made seven starts as a central defender he played at right-back for the first time in a 1-1 draw with AFC Wimbledon at Hartsdown Park on 25.9.07.

Over the next few weeks he usually featured as a full-back - three times on the left-hand side during October 2007 - and in its report on a 3-1 home win over Aylesbury in the FA Trophy on 23.10.07 the Isle of Thanet Gazette lavished praise on Louis. The paper said "the night really belonged to Louis Smith, who came of age as a Margate player. He's played all across the backline this season and was at right-back on Tuesday for what has to be his best game for the club. Nice and solid in defence and pushing on to link with the attack, Smith seemed inspired by his team-mates, who praised his every move. It isn't half-nice to feel wanted and when you've got people in your ear the way Smith did, he must have felt like the best right-back in the world".

At the end of October 2007 Louis was one of team-mate Kieran Morris' passengers, along with Paul Axon and Matt Bowles, when Morris crashed his car into a ditch and Robin Trott told the Thanet Times "It's not a nice thing to happen - it shook them all up."

After wearing the number two shirt in a 4-3 home defeat against Maidstone on 17.11.07 Louis had a run of four matches back in central defence which started with a 1-0 win at Billericay on 24.11.07. He then fell out favour and only made three starts as a full-back in Margate's next eight games although he did feature as a substitute four times. On 22.1.08 Louis played at left-back in a 2-1 win over visitors Chatham in a Kent Senior Cup tie but after that he missed four matches completely.

Louis returned to the side when he wore the number five shirt in a 1-1 draw at Hendon on 23.2.08 and Robin Trott told the Thanet Times "Louis was back to his best on Saturday. I had him down as man-of-the-match. He won his headers and did his job and made it hard for players to beat him. He played a lot of games last year and he's played quite a bit this year and sometimes it does you good to have a spell out of the side. I want to push him on but you have to break in young players bit by bit."

From then on Louis was a fixture in the side at centre-back and on 26.2.08 he scored his first goal for Margate in a 2-1 defeat at AFC Wimbledon, knocking in a loose ball following a Jimmy Jackson corner. Louis was on target again in a 3-3 home draw with Wealdstone on 22.3.08 and he also scored an own goal that day.

On 12.4.08 he was sent off in a 4-2 win at Leyton and after wearing the number six shirt in a remarkable 5-4 defeat against Folkestone at Hartsdown Park on 19.4.08 Louis missed the last match of the 2007/08 campaign due to suspension. He'd scored twice from 44 outings (four as sub) during the season.

Louis made his first appearance of the 2008/09 campaign at centre-back in a 2-1 defeat at Carshalton in the Isthmian League Premier Division on 16.8.08 - the opening day of the season - and he then captained the side in a 2-2 home draw with Hendon on 19.8.08. Louis marked the occasion by scoring following a Wayne Wilson free-kick and kept his place in the heart of Margate's defence for the next few weeks.

In its report on a 2-1 win over Heybridge at Hartsdown Park on 30.8.08 the Thanet Times said Louis "pulled off a couple of excellent last-ditch tackles" and he'd played eight times before going off with an injury five minutes before half-time as Margate lost 2-1 at Tooting & Mitcham on 9.9.08. It turned out that Louis had suffered cruciate ligament damage and manager Barry Ashby told the Thanet Times "It's not the best injury to have but apparently the rest of the knee is pretty sound and he'll have good rehab." Louis didn't play again during 2008/09.

In May 2009 he wasn't included on Margate's retained list for the 2009/10 campaign but manager Terry Yorath explained to the Isle of Thanet Gazette "Because Louis hasn't recovered from his injury, we've come to an agreement that he will come and do pre-season with us, then we'll take it from there."

On the eve of the 2009/10 season Terry Yorath spoke to the Isle of Thanet Gazette about Louis and said he was "A couple of months away from being anywhere near fit after his cruciate ligament injury." However after almost a year out Louis returned to action when he came on as a substitute in a 4-0 home defeat against Dartford in the Isthmian League Premier Division on 18.8.09.

He then started a home match against Boreham Wood on 22.8.09 at right wing-back and the Thanet Times said Louis "gave it everything, just like he did with his rehab" as Margate won 2-1. On 24.8.09 he had a good game in an unfamiliar midfield role as Margate won 3-0 at Aveley and Louis also played there in a 3-0 defeat at Harrow on 29.8.09. After that he was used as a sub in two out of the next three matches.

He was back in midfield as Margate lost 3-2 at Sutton in an FA Cup replay on 15.9.09 and Louis then started two of the next three games. On 26.9.09 he lined up at a left wing-back as Margate took on AFC Hornchurch at Hartsdown Park but Louis had to go off at half-time with a recurrence of his knee problem. The game finished as a 0-0 draw and it turned out to be Louis' last outing for Margate. His injury kept him out of action for the remainder of the campaign and Louis had managed ten appearances (four as sub) before his season was cut short once more.

On 24.7.10 Louis came on as a substitute as Margate won 2-0 in a friendly at Faversham but it was his only pre-season outing and he ended up signing for Whitstable in August 2010.

Louis' first appearance for the Oystermen was in a 1-1 home draw with visitors Herne Bay and coincidentally the match was being played for the Bruce Smith Shield - Bruce was Louis' grandfather.

Louis went on to score once from 29 outings (three as sub) for Whitstable in the Isthmian League Division 1 South during 2010/11 and he also started the 2011/12 campaign with the club. Unfortunately on 20.8.11 - the opening day of the new season - Louis was carried off as Whitstable won 3-2 at Walton Casuals and he didn't play again for the Oystermen. He retired from senior football before the end of 2011/12.