Detroit City Wire

Detroit City Football Club has announced the acquisition of forward Darren Smith on a two-year guaranteed contract. The South African player will don the number 7 jersey for Le Rouge in the upcoming 2025 season.

Smith, originally from Cape Town, South Africa, spent the last two seasons with Finnish Veikkausliiga team FC Inter Turku. During his tenure in Finland's top division, he played 72 matches and scored 28 goals for the Sinimustat (Black and Blues).

He was instrumental in Turku’s success in the 2024 Finnish League Cup, scoring five goals in six matches. His contributions included a crucial penalty conversion during normal time against KuPS, leading to Turku's second Finnish League Cup victory. Additionally, Smith netted five goals in six matches during the 2024 Finnish Cup campaign, where Turku reached the final but were defeated by KuPS after extra time.

Before his time at Turku, Smith made history as the first South African footballer to sign with a Moroccan club when he joined AS FAR Rabat. In Morocco's top division, he appeared nine times and scored once while aiding his team to win the COVID-19-postponed 2019–20 Moroccan Throne Cup.

Smith’s initial experience in Finland saw him play for Ekenäs IF and FC Honka during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Over these two years, he scored 31 goals and provided nine assists across all competitions. His performance earned him Ykkönen Player of the Year and Top Goalscorer honors with EIF in 2020. He also participated in four UEFA Conference League matches with Honka.

Prior to his European ventures, Smith played for several clubs in South Africa over six seasons including AmaZulu FC, Vasco da Gama, Santos FC, SuperSport United, and Ubuntu Cape Town FC accumulating a total of 41 appearances.

For further details about Detroit City FC's activities or updates regarding their players like Darren Smith, fans can visit detcityfc.com or follow their social media channels on X and Facebook under @DetroitCityFC or on Instagram at @detroitcityfootballclub.