SA Star Smith Elated After Latest Honour In Europe

FC Inter Turku striker Darren Smith is beaming with pride after winning the Veikkausliiga Fan’s Player of the Season award.

Smith, 28, had a standout season for the club with 19 goals and four assists in 37 games across all competitions as they won the LiigaCup, finished runners-up in the Suomen Cup and finished seventh in the league.

It’s now heading to five years since leaving South Africa where he was on the books of SuperSport United and joined Ekenäs IF in the Finnish second-tier, where he enjoyed an incredible debut season with 25 goal contributions in 27 games.

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This earned him a top-flight move to FC Honka and later FC Inter, via a short stint in the Botola Pro with ASFAR.

“It means a lot to me. It means that what you sow you reap you know. Even though it’s the supporters that voted. It means that people appreciate my hard work and efforts and it’s good to get rewarded in the end,” Smith tells iDiski Times about his latest award.

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“I think it’s a season I can be really proud of, winning a cup and then losing out on another in the Finnish Cup final even though I managed to score in the final. And of course, scoring all the goals I did this year. It was special.

“I think the last time I got those numbers was my first season in Finland in 2nd tier with Ekenas IF, so to get these numbers now in the top league here feels really good I can just give God all the Glory for it because that’s my source of strength.”