Darren Smith is making waves in the Finnish Veikkausliiga, particularly with Inter Turku.

The South African forward has been in exceptional form, earning recognition as the Finnish Premier League Fans’ Player of the Season.

Smith’s impressive performances have seen him score 19 goals in 38 matches across all competitions this season. He was also instrumental in Inter Turku’s League Cup triumph, scoring five goals in six matches, including the decisive penalty in the final.

Before his move to Finland, Smith had spells at various South African clubs, including SuperSport United, Santos, Ubuntu Cape Town, and Stellenbosch. He also had a stint in Morocco with FAR Rabat, where he won the domestic cup.

Smith’s journey to Finland is his third stint in the country. He previously played for Honka and Ekenäs IF, where he enjoyed a prolific 2020 season, scoring 17 goals in 22 league matches.

He also enjoyed the success with SuperSport, winning the MTN8 trophy in the 2017/18 season when they beat Cape Town City in the final in Durban under coach Eric Tinkler.  

In the following season, these two sides was in the final yet again, with City avenging this time around in the second season for Benni McCarthy at the same venue in Durban.  

He was at the Pretoria giants club when they lost the CAF Confederation Cup in the 2017 season when they fell short to Congolese giants T.P Mazembe.  

Smith started out his career at Cape Town Spurs and was snapped by AmaZulu ahead of the 2014/15 season by then coach Craig Rosslee.  

He joined Usuthu at the same time with Philani Shange, Robyn Johannes, Petrus Shitembi, Sedat Ouro Akoriko, Siya Mngoma, Tapelo Xoki, Mfanafuthi Dlamini, Bornwell Mwape and Paul Were.  

Unfortunately, AmaZulu was relegated in that season under Steve Barker and he left to join Vasco da Gama (now Stellenbosch).       

Throughout his career in the PSL top-flight football, he only scored once which came for SuperSport against Bloemfontein Celtic in the 2017/18 season at Dr Molemela Stadium.

Despite his impressive performances at club level, Smith has yet to earn a national team call-up. However, his continued success in Europe could potentially put him back on the radar of Bafana Bafana selectors.