Bermuda striker Jonté Smith has kicked his last ball as a professional player

While still holding a desire to play for club and country, whether it be football or cricket, Smith concedes his days of pursuing a professional career were now a thing of the past.

“In terms of my football career overseas I’ve effectively retired from playing the game professionally,” said Smith, who enjoyed spells with a number of clubs in England, including Sutton United, Crawley Town, Eastbourne Borough, Havant and Waterlooville and Woking, as well as Finnish side Kemi Kings, Norway’s Flekkeroy, before ending his career in Northern Ireland with Ballymena United.

“Obviously I still want to represent the national team and I still want to play club football, but I made the decision to move back home and build myself a future here.”

The 29-year-old who spent 11 years playing overseas intimated how a near tragedy that befell his father in the form of a life-threatening brain aneurysm almost three years ago was key to his decision to return to Bermuda for good.

“What a lot of people don’t know is that my father had a major health scare about three years ago and that helped me to realise how important family is,” said Smith. “I’d been away from my family for a really long time and it just felt like it was the right time to come back home.”

He added that he was anxious to build a local legacy, much as his father, Clay Smith, and grandfather, Mansfield Smith, had done in local sport and Cup Match.

“I want to build a legacy in Bermuda for football and cricket,” added Smith, who played as a colt in 2022, but was dropped to a reserve this year.

“I want to follow in my father’s and my grandfather’s footsteps and have an imprint on Cup Match.

“I want to leave a legacy that eventually my children will be able to say, ‘My father did this in Bermuda. He played Cup Match. He scored runs and won the trophy.’

“I also want to help St George’s to win a football title.”

Smith’s post-football career-building has already commenced at international insurance giant Chubb, where Smith has been employed for six months and has responsibilities in the administration and facilities department.

“I enjoy my job and things have been going well, so I’m just looking to build a career,” he said.